South America was cut off as a giant island for much.of the Tertiary Period, and many
animalsevolved there that were found nowhere else. The glyptodonts were big, heavily
armoured, armadillo-type creatures that mostly
wandered the pampas regions of grassy scrub
over the' past few million ye.ars. Theyhad no
teeth at the front of the mouth, and
the rear or molar teeth lacked hard
enamel covering, but they grew
continuously to replace the wear
. from grinding up tough grasses and
other plant food. The most recent
glyptodonts survived until a few
thousand years ago.