Dinosaur Mountain - Cenozoic Arizona
The Cenozoic Era, which began after the end of the Mesozoic, the Age of
Dinosaurs, about 65 million years ago, is well represented in Arizona by
many rich and important fossil sites from a variety of periods.
Glyptotherium
This armadillo-like creature is Glyptotherium. Its first
appearance in North America was in Arizona and Texas during the Pliocene
Period, about 2-3 million years ago. A distant relative of the sloth and
armadillo, Glyptotherium migrated to the southwest from South America
shortly after the Panamanian land bridge first appeared. Glyptotherium
were strictly herbivorous (plant eating) and lived in warm climates with no
excessive temperature extremes, and where there was extensive lowland
terrain, lush tropical or subtropical vegetation and proximity to standing
water.
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