Carved Tooth Glyptodon
Glyptodon clavipes
🐢🐀
Chordata
Mammalia
Cingulata
Chlamyphoridae
Glyptodontinae
Glyptodon clavipes
The Armored Giant of the Ice Age — Glyptodon clavipes was a colossal, dome-shelled mammal that roamed the grasslands of South America during the Pleistocene. Resembling a Volkswagen-sized armadillo, it was one of the most iconic megafauna of prehistoric South America, shielded in bony armor and built like a living fortress.
Description
This immense herbivore stretched around 3.3 meters in length and stood 1.5 meters tall at the shoulder. Its most distinctive feature was a massive, domed carapace composed of hundreds of fused bony plates (osteoderms), forming an impenetrable shell. The tail was encased in armored rings, and in G. clavipes, the tail tip developed a spiked club — a defensive weapon against predators such as sabertooth cats (Smilodon populator). Despite its tank-like bulk, Glyptodon was a gentle grazer, feeding mainly on coarse grasses and low vegetation along ancient riverbanks.
Quick Facts
Max Mass
Shoulder Height
Standing Height
Length
Diet
Trophic Level
2000
0.5
0.75
3.3
kg
m
m
m
Mixed Feeder
Herbivores – Root/Tuber Feeders
Hunt History
Some sites with butchery marks in South America
Time & Range
Extinction Status
Globally Extinct
Extinction Date
Temporal Range
Region
11000
BP
Late Pleistocene
North America
Wiki Link
Fat Analysis
Fatness Profile:
Medium (subcutaneous & tail base)
Fat %
4
Est. Renderable Fat
16
kg
Targeted Organs
subcutaneous near tail base, marrow
Adipose Depots
Tail-base pad, limb pockets; limited subcutaneous
Preferred Cuts
tail base fat, hindlimb marrow
Hunt Difficulty (x/5)
3