About This Project

Ice Age fossils include iconic species like saber-toothed cats and mammoths. In South America, giant armoured mammals called glyptodonts once roamed the Pampean Plains. Among them, Panochthus stood out for its size. Despite this we unknown its dietary preferences and its external appearance. In 2021, we discovered an exceptionally preserved Panochthus in General Guido, Argentina. The aim of this project is to reveal these biological aspects using modern techniques.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Glyptodonts are giant ice-age mammals similar to a huge armadillo. With heavy shells covering its back, tail, neck and probably its face, this Pleistocene “knights” roamed the Pampean Plains during a million years to sudden disappear 10,000 years ago. While evolutive relationships of glyptodont species were studied, many aspects of their biology, such as diet, presence of parasites or soft-tissue anatomy, remain poorly understood. Preliminary observations of this exceptionally preserved Panochthus revealed features previously unknown to science, including unusual textures on the shell possibly caused by parasitic bites and what might be the insertion area of a trunk. Similarly, we found several bony blocks (osteoderms) covering the face of the animal forming a facial armour. This specimen allows us to answer the following research questions: glyptodonts had a special diet? They suffer infections caused by insect bites? Its face had a trunk or a facial armour?

What is the significance of this project?

Glyptodonts were a diverse and one of the most successful mammal kins on the Ice-Age. Despite that, there are several biological aspects about glyptodons (specially Panochthus) that are unknown. Our specimen would allow us to change our understanding of these aspects by:

-Determine diet and ecological context, performing stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ18O).

-Assess infections caused by parasitic insects, analysing osteoderm texture and histological structure.

-Reconstruct the face of the animal by examining possible facial armour and corroborating presence of a trunk.

These findings will shed new light on the lifestyle and evolution of Pleistocene megafauna in the Pampean Plains of South America. Also, this project would impact on local people by bringing education through interactive talks to students living in remote areas (such as General Guido) where access to scientifical knowledge is difficult.

What are the goals of the project?

First, we will travel 300 km from Buenos Aires to General Guido, remove the protective plaster jacket, and clean the fossil over a three-week period. We need to turn the shell over with heavy machinery (e.g., forklifts). Then the shell will be emptied, and the bones are going to be extracted and reinforcing these with special adhesives and resins. Then, shell and bones will be cleaner using carbide tips, spatulas, and brushes. Second, we will take measurements with digital callipers to compare with relatives (like Glyptodon and Armadillos) to confirm the presence of a facial armour. Also, we will take histologic thin sections to corroborate parasitic infections and the presence of a trunk and took bones isotopic samples from tooth to assess its diet. We will integrate all data to test our research questions. Third, after publishing, we will share results with public through talks and museum exhibits.