Extra Armor Gave Glyptodon an Edge

Killing a glyptodont was no easy task. Prehistoric, bad-ass cousins of modern armadillos, these large mammals were protected by bony shielding on almost every part of their body. Some, such as Hoplophorus, even had modified tail clubs tipped with mace-like arrangements of spikes. Saber-toothed cats like Smilodon were surely formidable predators, but even they would have had a difficult time preying upon glyptodonts and shucking them from their shells.

At least one sabercat found a way around all that armor, though. Stored within the American Museum of Natural History’s massive Frick Collection of fossil mammals is the busted-up skull of a juvenile

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