Palaeopeltis Ameghino

Palaeopeltis Amegh., 1895, Bol. Inst. Geog. Argen., t. 15, p. 659.

The basis of this genus is a few plates of a glyptodon-like animal of considerable size, but the plates are without ornamentation. This form Ameghino considers intermediate between glyptodonts and armadilloes. I feel that there is too little of the skeleton known to justify this conclusion, especially as glyptodonts of a considerably higher grade of specialization are contemporaries of this form.

Fig. 134. P. inornatus: a single
plate—natural size.

Palaeopeltis inornatus Ameghino

The species is founded on four plates which are without ornamentation, and externally smooth except for numerous vascular perforations. They are of considerable size and entirely characteristic. The one such plate which we found is shown in [fig. 134].