Abstract
Studies on paleopathological alterations in fossil vertebrates, including damages caused by infections and ectoparasites, are important because they are potential sources of paleoecological information. Analyzing exoskeleton material (isolated osteoderms, carapace and caudal tube fragments) from fossil cingulates of the Brazilian Quaternary Megafauna, we identified damages that were attributed to attacks by fleas and dermic infections. The former were compatible with alterations produced by one species of flea of the genus Tunga, which generates well-delimited circular perforations with a patterned distribution along the carapace; the latter were attributable to pathogenic microorganisms, likely bacteria or fungi that removed the ornamentation of osteoderms and, in certain cases, generated craters or pittings. Certain bone alterations observed in this study represent the first record of flea attack and pitting in two species of large glyptodonts (Panochthus and Glyptotherium) and in a non-glyptodontid large cingulate (Pachyarmatherium) from the Quaternary of the Brazilian Intertropical Region. These new occurrences widen the geographic distribution of those diseases during the Cenozoic and provide more evidence for the co-evolutionary interaction between cingulates and parasites registered to date only for a small number of other extinct and extant species.
Highlights
Among the representatives of the South American Pleistocene Megafauna, the cingulates stand out as one of the most diverse and peculiar clades
In isolated osteoderms of Glyptotherium and P. brasiliense, we observed alterations comparable with those described for C. ameghinoi and V. perforata [8] and for the extant armadillo Zaedyus pichiy, for which infections by fleas of the genus Tunga are reported (See Fig 2 in [9])
In the osteoderms of Glyptotherium and P. brasiliense, these alterations consisted of well-delimited circular perforations, with most representing the enlargement of hair follicle pits
Summary
Among the representatives of the South American Pleistocene Megafauna, the cingulates stand out as one of the most diverse and peculiar clades. In this group, three main lineages are traditionally recognized: Dasypodids, likely a paraphyletic group [1], with fossil and recent species, and the extinct pampatheres and glyptodonts [2]. Paleopathological studies about cingulates, as for other taxa, can provide paleoecological and evolutionary insights concerning organism diseases from past to present. Cingulates show a complex exoskeleton overlaying their head, back and tail [3] formed by the fusion or articulation of dermal ossifications (osteoderms), whose external ornamentation varies considerably among species and are abundantly represented in the fossil record. Few works in paleopathology have focused on exoskeleton diseases, the inclusion of this structure
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