The Collaborative International Dictionary
Glyptodon \Glyp"to*don\, n. [Gr. ? carved, engraved + ?, ?,
tooth. See Glyph.] (Paleon.)
An extinct South American quaternary mammal, allied to the
armadillos. It was as large as an ox, was covered with
tessellated scales, and had fluted teeth.
--Owen.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. (context paleontology English) An extinct South American quaternary mammal, allied to the armadillos, with tessellated scales and fluted tooth.
Wikipedia
Glyptodon (Greek for "grooved or carved tooth") was a large, armored mammal of the subfamily Glyptodontinae (glyptodonts), a relative of armadillos that lived during the Pleistocene epoch. It was roughly the same size and weight as a Volkswagen Beetle, though flatter in shape. With its rounded, bony shell and squat limbs, it superficially resembled turtles, and the much earlier dinosaurian ankylosaur, as an example of the convergent evolution of unrelated lineages into similar forms. In 2016, an analysis of Doedicurus mtDNA found it was, in fact, nested within the modern armadillos as the sister group of a clade consisting of Chlamyphorinae and Tolypeutinae. For this reason, glyptodonts and all armadillos but Dasypus were relocated to a new family, Chlamyphoridae.
Usage examples of "glyptodon".
These little nocturnal burrowing edentates are the puny representatives of the gigantic Glyptodon of Pleistocene times, and the sloths are the dwindling shadows of the lordly Megatherium.
The tortoise was almost the exact counterpart of the Glyptodon asper that formerly existed on earth, and shambled along at a jerky gait, about half as fast again as they could walk, and while it continued to go in their direction they were greatly pleased.