Note on a Small Chlamyphoridae (Xenarthra, Cingulata) from the Amazon, Brazil

Key results

1. ShownThe femur is from an adult with no sign of pathology or dwarfism. It is still considerably smaller than adult Cabassous and Euphractus, and shorter than a subadult Euphractus even when the subadult bone is measured without its epiphyses.

   The epiphyses are fused, and no pathological, traumatic or dwarfism-related change is seen. Linear measurements in mm (greatest length, proximal and distal breadth and depth, femoral head depth; Table 1) and figured femurs of adult and subadult E. sexcinctus (Figure 3A, 3B) support the size gap. The prose itself gives no numeric values. · Remarks; Figure legends; Tables

2. SuggestedOverall length matches Tolypeutes, but the trochanter configuration argues against that genus. The femur is wider transversely than Dasypus, and its lesser trochanter follows the chlamyphorid pattern rather than the Dasypus one.

   Greatest length is comparable to an adult Tolypeutes tricinctus (MZUSP 3136), but the trochanters are arranged differently. Transverse dimensions exceed those of Dasypus. The shape of the lesser trochanter departs from Dasypus novemcinctus (MZUSP 13801) and aligns with the chlamyphorid femurs in Figure 3A to 3E. · Remarks; Figure legends

3. SuggestedIndividual characters point to different genera. The distal end resembles Chaetophractus and E. sexcinctus; the elongated lesser trochanter resembles Chaetophractus; the spacing between the greater and third trochanters resembles Euphractus; and the relatively wide third trochanter resembles Cabassous.

   Distal-end width and form match Chaetophractus and E. sexcinctus, although overall width is smaller than in Chaetophractus and distal width smaller than in Cabassous tatouay (MZUSP 7665). The prominent lesser trochanter matches descriptions of southern and southwestern South American Chaetophractus and differs from Cabassous and Euphractus. · Remarks; Figure legends

4. SuggestedNo genus fits the combined characters and the small size, so the bone is kept as Chlamyphoridae indeterminate. Without proposing a new taxon, the author raises the possibility that a distinctive chlamyphorid form lived, or still lives, in the Caru Indigenous Territory.

   The author states that assigning a genus would need more material, preferably a complete skeleton, and that genetic analysis of the specimen was not possible. Disputed Amazonian taxa (Pecari maximus, Tapirus kabomani) are cited both to support the possibility of a distinctive form and to argue that even genetic analysis might not settle its status. · Abstract; Remarks; DISCUSSION; FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

5. ClaimedThe author argues that the earlier reading of E. sexcinctus as a marker of degradation or Cerrado influence lacks support. Other taxa in the collection suggest forest still dominated in 1990, and hunters may not have recognized the animal as a species they avoided.

   Choloepus didactylus is abundant in the collection, and Passalites nemorivagus occurs alongside Subulo gouazoubira. E. sexcinctus was historically not hunted by the community, and Oliveira et al. (2011b) found only Dasypus among hunted armadillos, about 20 years after the collection was made. · RESULTS; DISCUSSION