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Glyptodont clavipes, skeleton, 9 feet long

Glyptodon (pronounced GLIP-toh-don) was the one of the biggest ancient armadillos (the family Glyptodontidae). This car-sized herbivore (plant-eater) was well-armored, having dome-shaped body armor, helmet-like head armor, and rings of bony armor on its short tail. This mammal had four short, thick legs; the front feet each had five clawed toes and the rear feet were more hoof-like. It had a short snout and powerful jaws, with no teeth in the front and grinding teeth farther back in the jaws. It was about 10 feet (3.3 m) long and 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. Fossils have been found in North and South America. It lived during the Pleistocene (between 2 million and 15,000 years ago). Glyptodon (meaning "carved tooth") was named by paleontologist R. Owen in 1839.