Description: Doedicurus clavicaudatus

Doedicurus clavicaudatus was a glyptodont, living during the Pleistocene until the end of the last ice age, some 11 000 years ago. This was the largest known glyptodontid, and one of the better known members of the New World Pleistocene megafauna, with a height of 1.5 meters (5 ft) and an overall length of around 3.6 meters (12 ft). It had a huge domed carapace that was made of many tightly fitted scutes. Doedicurus inhabited woodlands and grasslands and was herbivorous. Its tail club was probably used in intraspecific conflict rather than defense against predators like Smilodon. For one thing, the latter use would have been hard since the animal's field of vision was so limited that it would essentially have had to blindly thrash the tail club about. Fossils of Doedicurus are found in North America and South America. Given the late date of its disappearance, it was encountered and probably also hunted by the first human settlers of South America.

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