Dinosaurs & Prehistory - Other prehistoric animals - Doedicurus - Prehistoric life - Mammals - Pleistocene
Which living animal was Doedicurus most closely related to?
Correct!
Doedicurus clavicaudatus was not a reptile and, despite its huge bony shell, of course not a dinosaur either. It belonged to the glyptodonts, an extinct group of armored mammals from the Americas. Molecular genetic studies of Doedicurus showed that glyptodonts can even be classified within the evolutionary diversity of armadillos. Externally, however, Doedicurus was much more impressive than any armadillo today. It was one of the largest glyptodonts and had a huge, dome-shaped bony shell and a massive tail club. Studies of glyptodont tails suggest that such clubs could be used as weapons, possibly both against enemies and in conflicts between members of the same species. At first glance, it is precisely this tail club that makes Doedicurus surprisingly reminiscent of an Ankylosaurus. However, the similarity arose completely independently: Ankylosaurs were dinosaurs, while Doedicurus was a mammal from the armadillo family.
Despite its heavy shell, Doedicurus was not a dinosaur, but a glyptodont. Molecular data place these extinct animals within the armadillo family.
