Argentine scientists from the National University of La Plata have discovered evidence that about 21 thousand years ago, primitive people hunted giant relatives of armadillos in the territory of modern Argentina. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine PLOS One.
The team found fossils with characteristic butchery marks. The fossils belonged to glyptodons, which resembled modern armadillos. Glyptodons grew up to three metres in length and weighed up to two tonnes. The animals were covered in a thick shell made of fused bony plates.
Radiocarbon dating pushes back human settlement in South America by almost 6,000 years compared with known archaeological evidence, according to researchers.
The new results are consistent with other recent discoveries that point to early human presence in the Americas more than 20,000 years ago.
Scientists said that traces of Glyptodon hunting indicate that the species probably became extinct as a result of human extermination.
Previous researchers clarified The mystery of the movement of giant prehistoric kangaroos.