Lomaphorelus
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Lomaphorelus is a dubious[1] extinct genus of glyptodont known from the Middle Eocene of Patagonia. One species of Lomaphorelus has been described, L. depstus, which is known from only a single fossil armor scute. The Middle Eocene age of the scute makes Lomaphorelus one of the earliest known glyptodonts.
| Lomaphorelus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Cingulata |
| Family: | Chlamyphoridae |
| Subfamily: | †Glyptodontinae |
| Genus: | †Lomaphorelus Ameghino, 1902 |
| Species: | †L. depstus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Lomaphorelus depstus Ameghino, 1902 | |
Research history
Lomaphorelus depstus was described by the Argentine paleontologist Florentino Ameghino in 1902.[2] The species was based on a single broken fossil armor scute,[3] collected in Middle Eocene[4] deposits in the Musters Formation[3] in Patagonia,[1][5] in the so-called "Astraponotus beds".[2][5] Ameghino did not provide a more specific locality where the fossil was found.[3] The Eocene age of the fossil placed Lomaphorelus among the earliest known glyptodonts.[6] The generic name Lomaphorelus is the diminutive form of the name Lomaphorus, another glyptodont.[5] Ameghino considered the perforations of the plates referred to Lomaphorelus to resemble the arrangement in Lomaphorus.[2]
In 1947, the American paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson commented that Lomaphorelus was "very inadequately known".[6] In 1948, Simpson considered Lomaphorelus to "probably represent a valid genus" but that its "affinities [could] hardly be guessed".[3] Vizcaino et al. (2003) considered Lomaphorelus to be a nomen dubium.[1][7] Fernicola et al. (2018) agreed with this assessment and likewise designated Lomaphorelus as a nomen dubium.[1]
Description
Lomaphorelus was a relatively small glyptodont, believed by Ameghino to have been similar in size to Proeutatus.[2] Ameghino measured the sole scute referred to the genus to be 18 millimeters long, 15 millimeters wide, and 5–6 millimeters thick.[2] Simpson measured it to be 20 millimeters long, 13 millimeters wide, and 5–7 millimeters thick.[3] Simpson considered the scute to be "unlike any other known in details" and diagnosed Lomaphorelus as follows:[3]
Small scute with dense, glistening surface, obscurely marked into a large central area with a vague longitudinal elevation and small intercalary areas; numerous radiating punctuations, especially on the very vague scale boundaries.[3]
Classification
Under earlier glyptodont classification schemes, Lomaphorelus was traditionally considered part of the "Glyptatelinae" subfamily,[1][7] closely related to genera such as Glyptatelus, Clypeotherium, and Neoglyptatelus.[7]