PRESENCE OF A LARGE DASYPODIDAE GRAY, 1821 FROM THE CUVIERI CAVE, EASTERN BRAZIL

Abstract

Cingulata represent a group of Xenarthra characterized by the presence of a carapace composed of bony plates (osteoderms). The Cuvieri Cave, located in the Lagoa Santa karst complex, presents a relevant quantity of vertebrate fossils, including extinct and extant species. Although several paleontological studies have been carried out, the material was reviewed from a taxonomic point of view, including Xenarthra material. Two osteoderms, initially attributed to the genus Euphractus, were found in Pleistocene deposits, but it was observed that the specimens did not belong to this genus. The aim of this study is to present the revision of these two specimens, now recognized as the first evidence of a large member of the family Dasypodidae in the Cuvieri Cave. The specimens were found in levels where both extant and extinct species from the Lagoa Santa region were found, but due to the paleoenvironmental changes of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Lagoa, it was not possible to determine the environment in which the specimen lived.