New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1901-10-06
ENDING A UNIQUE FOSSIL
pry COMPLETE GLYPTODONT EN-
HUMED IN TEXAS.
FIRST SPECIMEN OF IT'S KIND DIS
~ o,-rRFD IN THIS COUNTRY

Elf
COVERED IN THIS COUNTRY.
nrobably the most valuable find of the
VIC Museum of Natural History's fossil
tbis wear is practically complete speci-
aDi'N ,.,onping to the family of glyptodonts,
neh ,,-as exhumed in Texas Glyptodonts. like
@A' rro,,nd sloths. were abundant in South
u ;oa early in the quaternary period OF
Ahei-s ,,stor,, but they were less numerous in
So America. At any tate, very few remains
eOi- ,,an found in this half of the continent.
he's in her national museum fairly
We, - enecimen. And in Texas and Florida a
eoH4. o,h nieces Of skin and other fragments,
fs" them of an exceedingly dubious char
Hosl 80 rointed to the existence of glypto-
as far north as those parts of the United
Gun The discovery of a specimen which
.birq hut a head. therefore, gives the
&''0 of Natural History unique treasure
Au ,,,+odont was often three or four feet
"a wore a shell, carapace, like that of
sce .ise The tortoise. though, lays eggs
&c the glyptodont was a mammal. The
" ALTERED from the armadillo which 1t
o,ybat resembles in the continuity and
att, Of its armor. An armadillos shell, both
he fossil and living types. has one OF Two
.,.o1 Sits near the middle of the body, so that
= onirnal could curl up as a porcupine does II
= ished TO do So The glyptodont could not
80 was another reason for this incapacity
&c sniraI column was about as stiff as a ram
a section Of gas pipe, the vertebra being
,ted TO each other except at the neck
80 a complex hinge existed. The tall too
almost equally rigid being incloseo IN
= sheath which sometimes was altogether
s.ro;d of Joints. The family takes its name
.-on, one Of its genera, glyptodon Inc Word IL
ale signifies ''grooved TOOTH" and refers TO an
,sr peculiarity of the creature F1naliy' II
80 he remarked that the glyptodonts all had
NC .r short legs and divided feet that looked
ute those of elephants.
DT,e carapace of a glyptodont was made up Of
,a,re number Of sections or scales The anat-
a.,st calls them -scutas." These were much
ouer relatively. and mere numerous than
80 os a turtle and were often connected by
o. neculiar seamlike jointing. suture. In the
,r.orent genera the markings differed notice
~, br,t practically all of these scutes We're
,amented by one style of sculpture or an
,her In one genus the decoration looked IKE
rosette for instance, and in another IL was
made up of lines radiating from a central point
professor Osborn is inclined to assign his specl-
men 10 the genus HoplOphorus. enc OF whose
,aruliarities was the thinness Of its scales he
cows that there is a pretty close resemblance De-
- the shell rattern of the North American
- South American species. Another charac-
.;stic of the Hoplophorus was the presence OF
.orsncuous rings around the tail sheath. me
,,eontologists who exhume6 and studied the
su+b American remains were greatly bothered
whom they found a lot of fragments. TO associate
.be right tails and carapaces. and thus had olln-
,,- IN making their classification. But no such
,roblern is presented by the magnificent specl-
wan fornd In Texas this year. Its carapace' by
en- WAY is fully four feet long. and there are
,u,o feet of tail All of the skeleton belonging
,,,;de the shell has also been recovered.
The Texas glyptodont seems to antedate lts
At st,oun South American relatives These
.re,et obtained in cane deposits in Brazil ana
river deposits near Buenos Ayres, Whlcn nave
seen. assigned to the peistocene PERIOD COM
,ara,,velv recent era. The Pliocene, when the
Taxas specimen represents. is the latest Oh lnoSe
suhdiyisions of the tertiary period
hitherto the only remains eXhumed IN 1hs
,-nitsS states which could be safely regarded
es beIorgin TO glyptodonts were teeth recoroeu
nv Cope in 1888 (secured In southern -,
snd hT Jeidv the year following found IN florl-
a. In ono of Ieidy's papers he mentions some
frasments discovered near Peach creek anu
.srebiing Brazilian bone cavern remains. Whlch
1un6 had called fossil armadilloes Ihere WI WI
slso Eve hits of skin-"dermal plates, ne caIisu
fhera-yhich cores ponded with LuId ue ~ y
Won NJ the Hoplophorus But Leidy mace the
announcement IN no confident tone ana even
were his suggestions correct the dHiou I VI
material was Insignificant. The texas u.s. us.
err therefore possesses a worldwide interest