Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1941. / Typescript. Includes abstract and vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 33).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1947. / Typescript. Includes abstract and vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [85]-86).

El objetivo de la presente Tesis Doctoral es realizar un estudio sistemático, anatómico y filogenético de los Pampatheriidae, evaluando sus afinidades con otros Cingulata. Tradicionalmente se reconocen seis géneros de Pampatheriidae (sensu SCILLATO-YANÉ, 1980, 1982; EDMUND, 1996; EDMUND & THEODOR, 1997; SCILLATOYANÉ et al., 2005; GÓIS et al., 2012b), considerados válidos por el autor de esta Tesis: Scirrotherium, Kraglievichia, Vassallia, Plaina, Pampatherium y Holmesina. Asimismo, se agregan dos nuevos géneros: Gen. nov. A y Gen. nov. B.

Los Dasypodini son reconocidos como uno de los clados más basales de cingulados según análisis filogenéticos morfológicos y moleculares. Conocidos desde el Mioceno medio, sus representantes actuales son el grupo de armadillos con el mayor número de especies y la mayor distribución geográfica latitudinal, ocupando distintos biomas aproximadamente entre los 40o N y los 40o S. En ese contexto, conocer la cladogénesis, diversidad y paleozoogeografía de los Dasypodini fue el objetivo general de esta Tesis. Para ello, diversos ejemplares de cingulados fueron anatómicamente estudiados y comparados, a fin de revisar la sistemática de la tribu y elaborar un análisis cladístico. Desde un punto de vista sistemático, los principales resultados de esta Tesis son: la descripción de una nueva especie para el Mioceno tardío de Ecuador (Anadasypus aequatorianus); la descripción de un nuevo género para el Plioceno medio de Venezuela (Pliodasypus); la revisión de la composición específica del género Propraopus, con la sinonimización entre P. sulcatus y P. grandis; la revalidación del epíteto genérico Cryptophractus, separando la especie viviente C. pilosus de Dasypus; y la exclusión de Pachyarmatherium y de Eocoleophorus, cingulados extinguidos de afinidad incierta, de los Dasypodini. De esta manera, los Dasypodini considerados válidos son: Anadasypus hondanus Carlini et al., 1997 (Mioceno medio de Colombia); A. aequatorianus Carlini et al., 2013 (Mioceno tardío de Ecuador); Pliodasypus vergelianus Castro et al., 2014 (Plioceno medio de Venezuela); Propraopus sulcatus (Lund, 1842) (Pleistoceno–Holoceno temprano de Argentina, Brasil, Venezuela, Uruguay, Bolivia y Ecuador); Dasypus bellus (Simpson, 1929) (Plioceno tardío– Pleistoceno tardío de Estados Unidos y México); D. punctatus Lund, 1840 (Pleistoceno tardío–Holoceno temprano de Brasil); y las especies vivientes D. novemcinctus Linnaeus, 1758; D. septemcinctus Linnaeus, 1758; D. hybridus (Desmarest 1804); D. kappleri Krauss, 1862; D. sabanicola Mondolfi, 1967; D. yepesi Vizcaíno, 1995 y Cryptophractus pilosus Fitzinger, 1856, algunas de ellas con registros desde el Pleistoceno tardío. Sus diagnosis, así como aquellas de Dasypodini, y de cada género, fueron establecidas, actualizadas o enmendadas, al igual que sus distribuciones geográficas y cronológicas. También se describió, con base en restos fragmentarios, una posible nueva especie de Anadasypus para el Mioceno tardío de Brasil. Desde un punto de vista anatómico, además de proveer una descripción comparativa generalizada del postcráneo de la tribu, se describió el cráneo, la coraza y los osteodermos de cada taxón válido, incluyendo estudios paleohistológicos para algunos de ellos. La morfología del cráneo y del postcráneo fue relacionada con los aspectos ecomorfológicos del grupo, especialmente su dieta y hábito fosorial. En el análisis cladístico, Peltephilus (Mioceno temprano–medio de la Argentina) fue seleccionado como grupo externo; el grupo interno incluyó a Stegosimpsonia sp. (Eoceno medio– tardío de la Argentina), Stegotherium (Mioceno temprano–medio de la Argentina) y todos los Dasypodini considerados válidos. Por medio de una búsqueda exacta, 70 caracteres relativos a características craneanas, mandibulares, postcraneanas, y de la coraza fueron analizados bajo el criterio de máxima parsimonia; los caracteres multiestado fueron tratados como no ordenados. El árbol más parsimonioso obtenido corroboró la hipótesis de una mayor afinidad entre Astegotheriini y Dasypodini, en relación a Stegotheriini; finalmente, la monofilia de Dasypodini también fue corroborada. Se demostró que Anadasypus corresponde al clado más basal, seguido por Pliodasypus, Propraopus y Cryptophractus, mientras que Dasypus es el clado más derivado y diverso. Además, se estimó la consistencia estratigráfica de la topología y los tiempos de divergencia de cada clado. A base de ello, los principales eventos biogeográficos de los Dasypodini (e.g., participación en el Gran Intercambio Biótico Americano) fueron discutidos. La importancia de la coraza y de los osteodermos como herramienta sistemática fue corroborada, dado que su morfología resultó fundamental para la diagnosis de los taxones, además de soportar la definición de diversos clados. Desde un punto de vista ambiental, se corroboró la hipótesis de que los Dasypodini actuales son más diversos y tienen mayor tamaño en bajas latitudes. Por último, los registros fósiles comprobaron que el grupo estuvo históricamente restringido a ambientes tropicales y subtropicales-templado cálidos de América. / The Dasypodini are recognized as one the most basal clades of cingulates according to morphologic and molecular phylogenetic analysis. Known since the middle Miocene, its living representatives are the group of armadillos with the most species and the widest latitudinal geographic distribution, occupying distinct biomes approximately between 40o N and 40o S. In this context, the general objective of this Thesis was to determine the cladogenesis, the diversity, and the paleozoogeography of the Dasypodini. In order to achieve this, numerous specimens of cingulates were anatomically studied and compared, aiming to revise the systematics of the tribe and to elaborate a cladistic analysis. From a systematic point of view, the main results of this Thesis are: the description of a new species from the late Miocene of Ecuador (Anadasypus aequatorianus); the description of a new genus from the middle Pliocene of Venezuela (Pliodasypus); the revision of the specific composition of genus Propraopus, with the synonymization between P. sulcatus and P. grandis; the revalidation of the generic epithet Cryptophractus, separating the extant species C. pilosus from Dasypus; and the exclusion of Pachyarmatherium and Eocoleophorus, extinct cingulates of uncertain affinities, from Dasypodini. Thus, the Dasypodini considered valid are: Anadasypus hondanus Carlini et al., 1997 (middle Miocene of Colombia); A. aequatorianus Carlini et al., 2013 (late Miocene of Ecuador); Pliodasypus vergelianus Castro et al., 2014 (middle Pliocene of Venezuela); Propraopus sulcatus (Lund, 1842) (Pleistocene–early Holocene of Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Ecuador); Dasypus bellus (Simpson, 1929) (late Pliocene–late Pleistocene of United States and Mexico); D. punctatus Lund, 1840 (late Pleistocene–early Holocene of Brazil); and the extant species D. novemcinctus Linnaeus, 1758; D. septemcinctus Linnaeus, 1758; D. hybridus (Desmarest 1804); D. kappleri Krauss, 1862; D. sabanicola Mondolfi, 1967; D. yepesi Vizcaíno, 1995, and Cryptophractus pilosus Fitzinger, 1856, some of these with records since the late Pleistocene. Their diagnosis, in addition to the diagnosis of Dasypodini and that of each genus, were established, updated, or emended, as well as their geographic and chronologic distributions. Based on fragmentary remains, a possible new species of Anadasypus from the late Miocene of Brazil was also described. From an anatomic point of view, besides providing a general comparative description of the postcranium of the tribe, the cranium, carapace, and osteodermos of each valid taxon were described, including paleohistological studies for some of them. The morphology of cranium and postcranium was related to ecomorphologic aspects of the group, especially its diet and fosorial habit. In the cladistic analysis, Peltephilus (early–middle Miocene of Argentina) was selected as outgroup; the ingroup included Stegosimpsonia sp. (middle–late Eocene of Argentina), Stegotherium (early–middle Miocene of Argentina), and all Dasypodini considered as valid. By means of an exact search, 70 characters relative to cranial, mandibular, postcranial, and carapacial features were analyzed under maximum parsimony criterion; the multistate character were treated as unordered. The most parsimonious tree obtained corroborated the hypothesis of a closer relationship between Astegotheriini and Dasypodini, in relation to Stegotheriini; the monophyly of Dasypodini was also corroborated. Anadasypus is the most basal clade, followed by Pliodasypus, Propraopus, and Cryptophractus, whereas Dasypus is the most derived and diverse clade. Also, the stratigraphic consistency of the topology and the divergence time of each clade were estimated. Based on that, the main biogeographic events of Dasypodini (e.g., participation in the Great American Biotic Interchange) were discussed. The importance of the carapace and osteoderms as a systematic tool was corroborated, given that its morphology was fundamental in the diagnosis of taxa, in addition to supporting the definition of many clades. From an environmental point of view, the hypothesis that the extant Dasypodini are more diverse and larger in low latitudes was corroborated. Lastly, the fossil records confirmed that the group has been historically restricted to temperate warm tropical and subtropical environments of America.

The present study entails descriptions of several well-preserved skulls from the pampathere species Holmesina floridanus, recovered from Pliocene localities in central Florida and housed in the collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History. Bone by bone descriptions have allowed detailed reconstructions of cranial morphology. Cranial foramina are described and illustrated in detail, and their contents inferred. The first ever description of an isolated pampathere petrosal is also included. Cranial osteology of Holmesina floridanus is compared to that of Pleistocene species of Holmesina from both North and South America (Holmesina septentrionalis, Holmesina occidentalis), as well as to the other well-known pampathere genera, to closely related taxa among glyptodonts (Propalaehoplophorus), and to extinct and extant armadillos (Proeutatus, Euphractus). This study identifies a suite of apomorphic cranial features that serve to diagnose a putative, progressive series of more inclusive monophyletic groups, including the species Holmesina floridanus, the genus Holmesina, pampatheres, pampatheres plus glyptodonts, and a clade formed by pampatheres, glyptodonts, and Proeutatus. The study highlights the need for further anatomical investigations of pampathere cranial anatomy, especially those using modern scanning technology, and for analyses of pampathere phylogenetic relationships.

Submitted by Lara Oliveira (lara@ufersa.edu.br) on 2017-09-12T22:15:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 FábioCGL_DDISERT.pdf: 2278528 bytes, checksum: 896534b24761eed81c350463209426cc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Vanessa Christiane (referencia@ufersa.edu.br) on 2017-10-27T13:04:36Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 FábioCGL_DDISERT.pdf: 2278528 bytes, checksum: 896534b24761eed81c350463209426cc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Vanessa Christiane (referencia@ufersa.edu.br) on 2017-10-27T13:04:56Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 FábioCGL_DDISERT.pdf: 2278528 bytes, checksum: 896534b24761eed81c350463209426cc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-27T13:08:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FábioCGL_DDISERT.pdf: 2278528 bytes, checksum: 896534b24761eed81c350463209426cc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-22 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The order Cingulata is one of the most representative members of the Pleistocene Brazilian Megafauna. It is composed by well-known animals (armadillos, pampatheres and glyptodonts) and characterized by a peculiar bony exoesqueleton. Several studies in paleoecology of cingulates involve this peculiar structure, whatever, few studies have directed their attention to pathological alterations in the exoskeleton, despite its great potential in terms of paleobiological information. The aim of this work was to describe and identify exoskeletal diseases in large cingulates from the Pleistocene of the Brazilian Intertropical Region, providing new paleoecological insights for such animals. We analyzed exoskeletal elements collected in six localities of the Brazilian Intertropical Region deposited in three relevant fossil collections in the states of Minas Gerais, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte. Through macroscopic examination, we have detected pathological and pseudopathological alterations affecting the surface of components of the exoskeleton in specimens of Hoplophorus euphractus, Panochuthus sp., Glyptotherium sp. and Pachyarmatherium brasiliense. These lesions included traumatic and infectious alterations generated by parasites in different parts of exoskeleton and the first records of lesions caused by fleas in glypdonts and in a large non-glyptodontid cingulate (Pachyarmatherium). Finally, we verified the presence of pseudopathologies, which served as a base for we propose a protocol to differentiate pathological to taphonomical alterations / Na Megafauna Brasileira do Pleistoceno, a Ordem Cingulata, um dos principais integrantes da megafauna brasileira do Pleistoceno, é composta por animais bastante conhecidos (tatus, pampatérios e gliptodontes) e caracterizados por um peculiar exoesqueleto ósseo. Muitos estudos em paleoecologia de cingulados envolvem esta estrutura, no entanto, poucos trabalhos têm direcionado a atenção para alterações patológicas do exoesqueleto, embora se reconheça o seu enorme potencial em termos de informações paleobiológicas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar e descrever alterações exoesqueletais em cingulados de grande porte do Pleistoceno da Região Intertropical Brasileira, fornecendo novos insights paleoecológicos sobre esses animais. Analisamos componentes do exoesqueleto coletados em seis localidades da Região Intertropical Brasileira depositados em três coleções relevantes nos estados de Minas Gerais, Pernambuco e Rio Grande do Norte. Por meio de exame macroscópico, detectamos alterações patológicas em superfícies ósseas acometendo o exoesqueleto em espécimes de Hoplophorus euphractus, Panochuthus sp., Glyptotherium sp. e Pachyarmatherium brasiliense. Estas lesões constituíram alterações traumáticas e infecciosas geradas por parasitas em diferentes partes do exoesqueleto e os primeiros registros de lesões causadas por pulgas em diferentes espécies de gliptodontes. Finalmente, constatamos a presença de pseudopatologias, as quais serviram de base para propormos um protocolo para diferenciar alterações patológicas de tafonômicas / 2017-09-12

In the Midwestern US, forested and other woody plant habitats are embedded in a matrix of agricultural and urban landcover that alters configurations of “natural” habitats and creates novel habitat types. Variation in the type and juxtaposition of landcover in the matrix between habitats can profoundly impact the spatial and temporal distributions of insects. Intense urban and agricultural development alters habitats, increases fragmentation, and may decouple trophic interactions if plants or animals cannot disperse to needed resources. Specialist insects represent a substantial proportion of global biodiversity and their fidelity to discrete microhabitats provides a powerful framework for investigating organismal responses to human land use. Specialist herbivores and parasitoids that depend on discrete plant habitats simplify assessment of how trophic interactions, local demographic traits, and dispersal processes affect responses to landcover heterogeneity. Herbivore responses to landcover change are highly idiosyncratic and not well characterized. Parasitoid wasps are predicted to be more prone than their herbivore hosts to local extinction in response to increased habitat fragmentation, but often respond differently to similar landcover contexts. Understanding and predicting idiosyncratic spatial population dynamics of simple host-parasitoid communities and other insect systems requires integration of metacommunity-level ecological paradigms with spatial analyses across multiple spatial scales. We sampled site occupancy and densities for two plant-herbivore-parasitoid systems from 250 sites across a 360 km2 urban/ agricultural landscape across three study years to ask whether and how human development decouples interactions between trophic levels. We first performed a single year analysis to investigate broad scale patterns. We compared patterns of site occupancy, host plant density, herbivory and parasitism rates of insects at two trophic levels with respect to landcover at multiple spatial scales. Geospatial analyses were used to identify landcover characters predictive of insect distributions. We found that herbivorous insect densities were decoupled from host tree densities in urban landcover types at several spatial scales. This effect was amplified for the third trophic level in one of the two insect systems: despite being abundant regionally, a parasitoid species was absent from all urban/ suburban landcover even where its herbivore host was common. Our results indicate that human land use patterns limit distributions of specialist insects. Dispersal constraints associated with urban built development are specifically implicated as a limiting factor. Our multi-year analysis of trophic interactions in urban versus agricultural landcover showed that important results from our single-year study are consistent over time and provided useful insights into the factors mediating spatial distributions of specialist insects in altered landscapes. While we observed that insect species responded to landcover at consistent local- and landscape-scale spatial extents, we observed that coarse grain landcover categories (i.e. urban versus agricultural) at low spatial resolution yielded the most consistent patterns of organismal response. Our results indicate that agricultural versus urban landcover contexts can mediate distinct spatial population structuring across linked trophic levels. This finding has important implications for conservation and pest management strategies in heterogeneous landscapes and is an important consideration when translating heuristics regarding metacommunity dynamics from one broad spatial context to another.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Alnarp : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 7 uppsatser.

O presente trabalho apresenta a descrição comparativa de crânio, pós-crânio e osteodermos do Dasypodini (Xenarthra, Cingulata) MNRJ 552-V, proveniente dos depósitos quaternários da Gruta de Itaporanga, Sorocaba-SP. Seu crânio foi tomografado e comparado àqueles de táxons viventes, de modo a abarcar as três subfamílias de Dasypodidae, enquanto seu pós-crânio foi comparado ao de Dasypus novemcinctus. Ademais, como MNRJ 552-V foi inicialmente descrito como pertencente a Propraopus punctatus, foram analisados materiais, especialmente osteodermos, atribuídos a este gênero depositados em coleções paleontológicas brasileira e argentinas. Para definir as relações do referido espécime com outros Dasypodini, um estudo filogenético foi realizado. Além de MNRJ 552-V, o grupo interno abarcou cinco unidades taxonômicas operacionais (OTUs), incluindo duas espécies viventes de Dasypus, dois espécimes atribuídos a P. grandis, bem como parte do material tipo de Dasypus sulcatus Lund, 1842, proveniente de Lagoa Santa-MG, tendo exclusivamente este sido analisado apenas por meio da literatura. O grupo externo, definido com base em estudos filogenéticos prévios, inclui Stegotherium tesselatum e Cabassous tatouay. Nesta análise, os osteodermos, que figuram historicamente como de grande relevância sistemática para Cingulata, igualmente mostraram-se fundamentais para diferenciar as OTUs do grupo interno. A única árvore mais parcimoniosa obtida por meio de busca exata sugere maior proximidade de MNRJ 552-V às espécies viventes de Dasypus, parecendo preferível atribuir tal espécime a D. punctatus Lund, 1840, o que coincide com a proposta nomenclatural original da espécie. Já o outro clado, que consiste de uma politomia com três outras OTUs, por incluir materiais referidos à espécie tipo do gênero (P. grandis) foi nomeado Propraopus. Deste modo, a OTU Dasypus sulcatus deve ser tratada como Propraopus sulcatus. A politomia que forma clado Propraopus corrobora a difícil distinção entre materiais P. sulcatus e P. grandis, previamente apontada por diversos autores. / This work presents the comparative description of the skull, postcranium and osteoderms of the Dasypodini (Xenarthra, Cingulata) MNRJ 552-V, collected in the quaternary deposits of Gruta de Itaporanga, Sorocaba-SP, Brazil. The skull was CT scanned and compared to those of extant taxa of all three Dasypodidae subfamilies, while the postcranium was compared to that of Dasypus novemcinctus. Given that MNRJ 552-V was originally described as Propraopus punctatus, it was compared to fossils (especially composed of osteoderms) attributed to this genus in paleontological collections of Brazil and Argentina. In order to define the relations of the described specimen to other Dasypodini, a phylogenetic study was performed. Along with MNRJ 552-V, the ingroup comprises five operational taxonomic units (OTUs), including two extant species of Dasypus, two specimens attributed to P. grandis, as well as part of the type material of Dasypus sulcatus Lund, 1842 from Lagoa Santa-MG, the latter solely analyzed based on the literature. The outgroup was defined based on previous phylogenetic studies and includes Stegotherium tesselatum and Cabassous tatouay. The osteoderms, which are skeletal parts historically relevant to Cingulata systematics, were also fundamental to differentiate the ingroup OTUs in the analysis. The single most parsimonious tree obtained with an exact search suggested that MNRJ 552-V is more closely related to the extant Dasypus species. Accordingly, it is preferable to attribute that specimen to D. punctatus Lund, 1840, following the original designation of the species. The sister clade of Dasypus, which consists of a polytomy with three other OTUs, was assigned to the genus Propraopus, once it includes material referred to its type species (P. grandis). Therefore, the OTU Dasypus sulcatus should be treated as Propraopus sulcatus. The polytomy that forms the Propraopus clade highlights the problem in differentiating P. sulcatus and P. grandis, as previously pointed by many authors.

O presente trabalho apresenta a descrição comparativa de crânio, pós-crânio e osteodermos do Dasypodini (Xenarthra, Cingulata) MNRJ 552-V, proveniente dos depósitos quaternários da Gruta de Itaporanga, Sorocaba-SP. Seu crânio foi tomografado e comparado àqueles de táxons viventes, de modo a abarcar as três subfamílias de Dasypodidae, enquanto seu pós-crânio foi comparado ao de Dasypus novemcinctus. Ademais, como MNRJ 552-V foi inicialmente descrito como pertencente a Propraopus punctatus, foram analisados materiais, especialmente osteodermos, atribuídos a este gênero depositados em coleções paleontológicas brasileira e argentinas. Para definir as relações do referido espécime com outros Dasypodini, um estudo filogenético foi realizado. Além de MNRJ 552-V, o grupo interno abarcou cinco unidades taxonômicas operacionais (OTUs), incluindo duas espécies viventes de Dasypus, dois espécimes atribuídos a P. grandis, bem como parte do material tipo de Dasypus sulcatus Lund, 1842, proveniente de Lagoa Santa-MG, tendo exclusivamente este sido analisado apenas por meio da literatura. O grupo externo, definido com base em estudos filogenéticos prévios, inclui Stegotherium tesselatum e Cabassous tatouay. Nesta análise, os osteodermos, que figuram historicamente como de grande relevância sistemática para Cingulata, igualmente mostraram-se fundamentais para diferenciar as OTUs do grupo interno. A única árvore mais parcimoniosa obtida por meio de busca exata sugere maior proximidade de MNRJ 552-V às espécies viventes de Dasypus, parecendo preferível atribuir tal espécime a D. punctatus Lund, 1840, o que coincide com a proposta nomenclatural original da espécie. Já o outro clado, que consiste de uma politomia com três outras OTUs, por incluir materiais referidos à espécie tipo do gênero (P. grandis) foi nomeado Propraopus. Deste modo, a OTU Dasypus sulcatus deve ser tratada como Propraopus sulcatus. A politomia que forma clado Propraopus corrobora a difícil distinção entre materiais P. sulcatus e P. grandis, previamente apontada por diversos autores. / This work presents the comparative description of the skull, postcranium and osteoderms of the Dasypodini (Xenarthra, Cingulata) MNRJ 552-V, collected in the quaternary deposits of Gruta de Itaporanga, Sorocaba-SP, Brazil. The skull was CT scanned and compared to those of extant taxa of all three Dasypodidae subfamilies, while the postcranium was compared to that of Dasypus novemcinctus. Given that MNRJ 552-V was originally described as Propraopus punctatus, it was compared to fossils (especially composed of osteoderms) attributed to this genus in paleontological collections of Brazil and Argentina. In order to define the relations of the described specimen to other Dasypodini, a phylogenetic study was performed. Along with MNRJ 552-V, the ingroup comprises five operational taxonomic units (OTUs), including two extant species of Dasypus, two specimens attributed to P. grandis, as well as part of the type material of Dasypus sulcatus Lund, 1842 from Lagoa Santa-MG, the latter solely analyzed based on the literature. The outgroup was defined based on previous phylogenetic studies and includes Stegotherium tesselatum and Cabassous tatouay. The osteoderms, which are skeletal parts historically relevant to Cingulata systematics, were also fundamental to differentiate the ingroup OTUs in the analysis. The single most parsimonious tree obtained with an exact search suggested that MNRJ 552-V is more closely related to the extant Dasypus species. Accordingly, it is preferable to attribute that specimen to D. punctatus Lund, 1840, following the original designation of the species. The sister clade of Dasypus, which consists of a polytomy with three other OTUs, was assigned to the genus Propraopus, once it includes material referred to its type species (P. grandis). Therefore, the OTU Dasypus sulcatus should be treated as Propraopus sulcatus. The polytomy that forms the Propraopus clade highlights the problem in differentiating P. sulcatus and P. grandis, as previously pointed by many authors.