Fossils of ancient tank-like mammal found in Andes

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists searching for fossils high in the Andes mountains in Chile have unearthed the remains of a tank-like mammal related to armadillos that grazed 18 million years ago.

"It looks different than almost anything out on the landscape today. There really isn't anything that's comparable today in terms of its body form," John Flynn of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, one of the scientists, said in a telephone interview.

The creature, Parapropalaehoplophorus septentrionalis, was a primitive relative of a line of heavily armored mammals that culminated in the massive, impregnable Glyptodon, a two-metric ton, 10-foot(3-meter)-long beast covered in armored plates and a spiky tail.

Glyptodon, the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, died out 10,000 years ago. Parapropalaehoplophorus had similar traits, but was much smaller, at 200 pounds (90 kg) and 2-1/2 feet.

The findings were published on Wednesday in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

The creature is a member of a family called glyptodonts that originated in South America and later entered North America after the two continents joined 3 million years ago.

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The scientists discovered the remains in 2004 working at 14,000 feet in the Andes.