10,000-year-old giant glyptodont/armadillo shell fossil found in Argentina ?

10,000-year-old giant glyptodont/armadillo shell fossil found in Argentina

While there is a chance the shell is a hoax because it hasn't been studied directly by experts, Adrian Lister of the Natural History Museum, London, told MailOnline: 'I think it is quite likely this is genuine.'

'The shell looks like a genuine glyptodont shell, and the hole is "wear and tear", not where the head or tail went,' he explained.

After studying the pictures, a palaeontologist said there's 'no doubt' the shell belonged to an ancient ancestor of the peculiar creature (illustrated). Glyptodonts are the ancestors of modern armadillos. They lived in South America for tens of millions of years and had big round armoured shells, weighing up to a ton

I thought this was a rather cool find.

Go out for a breath of fresh air and stumble upon a prehistoric find. I've always been convinced that there are still so many things yet to be discovered just beneath Earths' surface. Not just prehistoric fossils but ancient man-made locations as well.

Happy New Years

PEACE

a reply to: SLAYER69

damn that's a big opossum on the half shell.

Cool find Slayer!

The nerd in me instantly thought of discarded Lavos shells from Chrono Trigger, lol. Here's a couple pictures for comparison.



Fossils are going to be tough to find in the future considering how much smaller everything has become. Maybe it will get easier with technology?

S+F

Hmmm. I wonder if a giant glyptodont taste better baked or grilled?

That would certainly make a big bump if you ran it over.
I'm continually amazed at the creativity of nature and how animals are always adapted perfectly to their environment.
I doubt many creatures could tackle and eat a glyptodont.
Pretty formidable tail weaponry on the backside.
I would assume it too was a marsupial then?

Looks younger then 10000 years old
Maybe 4000 years
And soft dirt covers it
Thanks for posting

originally posted by: SLAYER69

10,000-year-old giant glyptodont/armadillo shell fossil found in Argentina

While there is a chance the shell is a hoax because it hasn't been studied directly by experts, Adrian Lister of the Natural History Museum, London, told MailOnline: 'I think it is quite likely this is genuine.'

'The shell looks like a genuine glyptodont shell, and the hole is "wear and tear", not where the head or tail went,' he explained.

After studying the pictures, a palaeontologist said there's 'no doubt' the shell belonged to an ancient ancestor of the peculiar creature (illustrated). Glyptodonts are the ancestors of modern armadillos. They lived in South America for tens of millions of years and had big round armoured shells, weighing up to a ton

I thought this was a rather cool find.

Go out for a breath of fresh air and stumble upon a prehistoric find. I've always been convinced that there are still so many things yet to be discovered just beneath Earths' surface. Not just prehistoric fossils but ancient man-made locations as well.

Happy New Years

PEACE

I'm with you, Slayer. I believe there's tons of history waiting to be discovered underground. Hopefully, it can be found with ground penetrating radar.

originally posted by: rickymouse
Hmmm. I wonder if a giant glyptodont taste better baked or grilled?

I don't know, but build a fire under an empty shell, and you would have a damn fine redneck hot tub.

a reply to: SLAYER69

I'm not surprised; after all this is continent that spawned terror birds.

Perhaps Mega fauna could explain certain cryptid sightings, however there is seeing and then there is believing. I don't believe that indigenous tales of large creatures are exaggerated, after all some cultures did co exist with mega fauna and maybe some species still exist, waiting to be found.

That picture makes me think of the "Rollin Safari" animations

originally posted by: piney
Looks younger then 10000 years old
Maybe 4000 years
And soft dirt covers it
Thanks for posting

It could have washed out of its original resting place a thousand years ago during a storm and ended up deposited in the current resting place, covered in mud.

originally posted by: rickymouse
Hmmm. I wonder if a giant glyptodont taste better baked or grilled?

The regular ones are delicious. I tried it in Bolivia's Rain Forest years ago. The flavor was similar to pork but much better. Cooked in a traditional way by a local woman. One hand grabbing the meat you eat and the other used as a fan against the flies and mosquitoes.

that thing with its tail reminds me of Obelix

originally posted by: Asktheanimals
That would certainly make a big bump if you ran it over.
I'm continually amazed at the creativity of nature and how animals are always adapted perfectly to their environment.
I doubt many creatures could tackle and eat a glyptodont.
Pretty formidable tail weaponry on the backside.
I would assume it too was a marsupial then?

a reply to: Asktheanimals

They were placental mammals, not marsupial. It doesn't make them any less impressive though considering they were roughly the same size as a VW Beetle.

You're spot on regarding the number of animals that would try to tackle one of these guys. There are only a scant few specimens in existence that show any signs of predation. They were massive armored machines who managed to have almost no natural predators. Until Homo Sapiens made their way to the Americas! Whether we drove them to extinction, hunted them to extinction or it was just crappy timing isn't understood well at this point, as the same goes for the full spectrum of Pleistocene MegaFaunal extinctions. What we do know for sure is that humans did hunt them and there is a minimum of 4KA of overlap, and likely a bit longer now that much older dates are being affirmed in SA. There is also evidence that humans may have used their shells for shelter.

Why does the first photo look to me like a worn out tractor tyre sticking out of a river bank?

a reply to: crayzeed

Because you are looking at it wrong -

Get the DNA!!

Lets make some more...hehe

Thanks for the replies, I thought some here would be interested.

a reply to: SLAYER69

Having one as a pet would have been interesting. Wagging that tail and happy to see you would knock you into next February. A tail like a caveman weapon is just too cool.