CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Within the late Neogene Glyptodontidae of the Pampean region of Argentina, Urotherium antiquum was described on the basis of a partial skull, a left hemimandible and fragments of the dorsal carapace. From a morphologic viewpoint, the diagnostic characters are located on the exposed surface of the osteoderms of the dorsal carapace and somewhat resembles the Pleistocene genus Neuryurus. Although the relationship of U. antiquum with the remaining Glyptodontidae has never been clarified, some cladistic analyses suggest a close phylogenetic affinity with the clade composed of Plohophorus + (Glyptodon + Doedicurus). A careful comparison of U. antiquum to well-characterized taxa with similar stratigraphic and geographic provenance reveals the following: a) most of the material assigned to this species corresponds to the Plohophorini Plohophorus; b) some osteoderms show a clear affinity to Glyptodontidae Doedicurinae; c) the alleged ornamentation pattern that characterizes this species was produced by taphonomic alteration of the exposed surface of the osteoderms.