Doedicurus

Doedicurus
Classification
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Cingulata
Family	Chlamyphoridae
Subfamily	Glyptodontinae
Species	D. clavicaudatus
Fauna Guide
Diet	Herbivorous
Location	South America (Patagonia, Brazil, Uruguay)
Time	2 - 0.007 million years ago, Pleistocene to Holocene Epoch
Size	Height: 1.5 meters (4 ft 11 in) Length: 3.6 meters (12 ft) Weight: 1,400 - 2,370 kg (3,100 - 5,220 lb)

“ Doedicurus may not be fast, but what they lack in speed… they make up for with armor and a lethal tail... adaptations that protect them and their young from any would-be predators. ”

― Morgan Freeman, Chapter 7: Inheriting the Earth

Doedicurus ("pestle tail") is a genus of glyptodont armadillo that lived in South America during the Pleistocene epoch. Unlike its more diminutive modern relatives, it was a giant creature that could grow to the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, one of the largest glyptodonts ever to have walked the Earth. Doedicurus persisted into the Holocene epoch until around 8,000 years ago, long after its South American pampas habitat was invaded by new animals from the North, and probably fell victim to human hunting and climate change.

Description

Doedicurus's armor practically made it invulnerable to attack from most hunters.

Doedicurus was unique among glyptodonts for sporting a mace-like spiked club at the end of its tail, which was most likely used to fend off predators or for ritualized intraspecific fighting. The club itself would have weighed around 40 or 65 kilograms (88 or 143 lb) in life, larger than the size of a cannonball. On average, the animal was 3.6 meters (12 feet) long and could weigh between 1,400 to 2,370 kg (1.5 to 2.6 short tons), making it the largest armadillo ever to have lived. Its huge armored carapace was covered in many scutes, allowing for maximum protection from both the mammalian carnivores in its habitat and other Doedicurus during intraspecific fights. Its head was also defended by scutes that formed a kind of "helmet". As with other xenarthrans, Doedicurus's weight was mostly centered on its hind limbs. This shows that it may have been able to stand on two legs, not only for feeding and observation, but also helping in accelerating the tail club and maintaining posture after getting struck. This is not to say that it had weak forelimbs, which may have been used for rotating the body in order to swing the tail club.

Appearances

Chapter 7: Inheriting the Earth - 2 million years ago, a small herd of Doedicurus consisting of four adults and one baby peacefully grazed in the grasslands of South America before being disturbed by a juvenile Smilodon populator. The herbivores dropped to the ground to wait out the curious predator, who inquisitively scratched and jumped around the impenetrable armadillos. Eventually, the Smilodon attempted to turn over the baby Doedicurus with its paws in an attempt to eat it, but its mother swung her spiked tail at the cat and forced it to back off. The other adults menacingly advanced toward the predator, who quickly retreated.

Habitat

The pampas still exist today but had a greater variety of animal life in the past.

Glyptodonts like Doedicurus were spread out over the Americas and generally inhabited open grassland with a temperate to cool climate. Doedicurus itself seemed to have been restricted to the cold and humid Chaco-Pampean plains of northeastern Patagonia, and lived only in South America where fossils have been uncovered in the countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. The lowland grasslands that Doedicurus called home are known as the pampas, which are still dominated by grassy prairies and steppes in the present day. It coexisted with other mammals such as the saber-toothed cat Smilodon, ground sloths like Megatherium, toxodonts, litopterns, other glyptodonts, equines, and even humans during the last few thousand years of its existence.

Behavior

A juvenile Smilodon populator tackles the juvenile Doedicurus.

Female Doedicurus were featured in the show as being protective of their young, with one mother in particular aggressively warning her offspring to keep itself low to the ground while the carnivore Smilodon investigated their herd. The animal was likely a grazer, but its teeth and mouth, like those of other glyptodonts, seem unable to have chewed grass effectively which may indicate a slow metabolism. Males may have used their tail clubs to battle one another in heated contests, evidence of which has been noted by fractures in fossilized carapaces. This may have been the primary function of the tail club instead of being used to ward off predators. It has been noted that the eyesight of the animal may not have been sufficient enough for striking predators, but the tail could still have provided a means of intimidation as seen in the show. Doedicurus were also depicted in the show living in small groups and dropping to the ground to shield their limbs from attack. Despite their impressive fortifications, fossil evidence of a juvenile Doedicurus reveals that its skull was pierced by the massive fangs of a carnivore, possibly Smilodon.

Trivia

• Smilodon populator and Doedicurus did not coexist 2 million years ago, as the former had not evolved yet by this time. S. populator likely evolved around 1 million years ago.
• The Smilodon meeting Doedicurus segment was set up to be a light-hearted sequence to juxtapose against the cheetah hunt. The filmmakers leaned on decades of experience of filming big cats and seeing the nuances in their behavior, including cheetahs seeking high vantage points, and lions testing out prey they haven’t met before, such as porcupines.
• Doedicurus is the only xenarthran to be featured in the series.
• All of the herbivorous mammals featured in Life On Our Planet, including Doedicurus, were all depicted living in herds.
• Doedicurus has a cameo appearance in Chapter 8, where it is implied that it was driven to extinction by human hunting.

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