Holmesina

Joseph Leidy initially described Holmesina fossils from Florida as Glyptodon septentrionalis in 1889. However, shortly after a close relationship with the pampatheriids was realized, wherein the finds were reassigned to the South American Pampatherium ("Chlamytherium") humboldtii, therein revised to its own species, Chlamytherium septentrionalis, by Elias Howard Sellards in 1915. After additional fossils from Texas were described, George Gaylord Simpson assigned the finds to its own genus, Holmesina, in 1930. == Distribution ==

They traveled north during the faunal interchange, and adapted well to North America, like the ground sloths, glyptodonts, armadillos, capybaras, and other South American immigrants. During the Late Pleistocene, Holmesina dispersed from North America back into South America, as evidenced by the morphological similarity of Late Pleistocene species in South America. Their fossils are found from Brazil to the United States, mostly in Texas and Florida. == Diet ==

Holmesina species were herbivores that grazed on coarse vegetation; armadillos are mostly insectivorous or omnivorous. H. paulacoutoi was a generalist plant-eater but had a preference for C4 plants; it has been estimated based on δ13C and δ18O values from fossils from Sergipe in Brazil that grasses made up 55% of the diet of H. paulacoutoi, with a further 29% being fruits and 16% being leaves. == Palaeopathology ==

Three H. cryptae specimens have been described bearing evidence of bacterial and fungal infections, along with sand flea ectoparasitism. == References ==