Holmesina

Taxonomy

Joseph Leidy initially described Holmesina fossils from Florida as Glyptodon septentrionalis in 1889. However, shortly after a close relationship with the pampatheriids was realized, wherein the finds were reassigned to the South American Pampatherium ("Chlamytherium") humboldtii, therein revised to its own species, Chlamytherium septentrionalis, by Elias Howard Sellards in 1915. After additional fossils from Texas were described, George Gaylord Simpson assigned the finds to its own genus, Holmesina, in 1930.

Distribution

They traveled north during the faunal interchange, and adapted well to North America, like the ground sloths, glyptodonts, armadillos, capybaras, and other South American immigrants. During the Late Pleistocene, Holmesina dispersed from North America back into South America, as evidenced by the morphological similarity of Late Pleistocene species in South America. Their fossils are found from Brazil to the United States,{{cite web | access-date = 17 December 2021}} mostly in Texas and Florida.

Diet

Holmesina species were herbivores that grazed on coarse vegetation; armadillos are mostly insectivorous or omnivorous. H. paulacoutoi was a generalist plant-eater but had a preference for C4 plants; it has been estimated based on δ13C and δ18O values from fossils from Sergipe in Brazil that grasses made up 55% of the diet of H. paulacoutoi, with a further 29% being fruits and 16% being leaves.

Palaeopathology

Three H. cryptae specimens have been described bearing evidence of bacterial and fungal infections, along with sand flea ectoparasitism.

References

References

1. "Yahoo! Groups".
2. Cahn, Alvin R.. (1922). "''Chlamytherium septentrionalis'', a Fossil Edentate New to the Fauna of Texas". Journal of Mammalogy.
3. (1930). "''Holmesina septentrionalis'', extinct giant armadillo of Florida". American Museum of Natural History.
4. (1 October 2005). "Paleobiogeography of the late Pleistocene pampatheres of South America". [[Journal of South American Earth Sciences]].
5. Vizcaíno, S. F.. (1998). "Skull Shape, Masticatory Apparatus, and Diet of ''Vassallia'' and ''Holmesina'' (Mammalia: Xenarthra: Pampatheriidae): When Anatomy Constrains Destiny". Journal of Mammalian Evolution.
6. (December 2021). "Isotopic paleoecology (δ13C, δ18O) of two megamammals assemblages from the late pleistocene of Brazilian intertropical region". [[Journal of South American Earth Sciences]].
7. (14 July 2020). "Isotopic paleoecology (δ13C, δ18O) of a late Pleistocene vertebrate community from the Brazilian Intertropical Region". Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia.
8. (August 2021). "Damaged armour: Ichnotaxonomy and paleoparasitology of bioerosion lesions in osteoderms of Quaternary extinct armadillos". [[Journal of South American Earth Sciences]].