Holmesina Fossil Bone Scute Plate Giant Prehistoric Armadillo Megafauna Pleistocene Collection (4)

Fossil Bone Armor Scute Plate Prehistoric Giant Armadillo  mm 33 x 30 x 13 gr 15.1 Holmesina septentrionalis Extinct Armored Xenarthrous Mammals Pleistocene Collecting Paleontology Museum.

Rare collectible fossil specimen, difficult to find, in excellent condition, high quality Dermal Dorsal Scute Osteoderm, excellently preserved fragment, with notable details of the surface texture.
No restoration at all. Only a piece, as in photos.

Holmesina is a genus of Extinct Mammals that lived between the Pliocene and the Pleistocene (about 2 million years ago - 50,000 years ago) and its Fossil remains were found in North and South America.
Holmesina is part of the Pampatheres, a group of Mammals Xenarthrans Cingulates similar to the Armadillos but much larger and equipped with different specializations regarding the teeth. It could reach about 2 meters in length.
Unlike the glittodonti, also gigantic armadillo-like animals, the armor of Holmesina consisted of flexible plates that allowed the animal to move more easily, but not to roll up like the modern armadillos. The powerful legs were armed with claws suitable for digging, while the long and low skull had a stronger toothing than that of armadillos.
The genus Holmesina was first described in 1930 by George Gaylord Simpson, based on fossils found in Florida (Holmesina septentrionalis). Subsequently, other remains of this armadillo were found in the northern part of South America (Ecuador and Venezuela) and were ascribed to the H. occidentalis species by Robert Hoffstetter in 1952. Another species, H. floridanus, was described by the terminal Pliocene of the Florida. In 2012 a new species of Holmesina was described, originating from the Upper Pleistocene of Brazil, H. rondoniensis.
Holmesina fossils have been described in much of the Southern United States (Florida, Texas, Georgia, Kansas and South Carolina), Mexico and Costa Rica.
It seems that individuals of the genus Holmesina moved northward during the great Pliocene / Pleistocene wildlife exchange, when North America and South America came together thanks to the formation of the Panama isthmus. Other animals that carried out this migration to the north were the terrestrial sloths, the glittodonti, the armadillos, the capybara, the opossums and the notoungulati.
Holmesina and her close relatives were mainly herbivores; the chewing apparatus of these animals was suitable for eating hard plants on the plains, unlike the current armadillos, mainly insectivorous or omnivorous.
Another similar genus, typically South American, is Pampatherium.