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Giant Armadillo's Fossil Is Discovered in Peru

The Science File | IN BRIEF

May 21, 2005|From Times Staff and Wire Reports

Builders in Cuzco, Peru have found the fossil of a giant armadillo nearly the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, researchers said Thursday.

Archeologist Pedro Luna of the National Institute of Culture said the fossil was almost complete and was 6 feet 6 inches long, including the tail, with an average height of 3 feet.

"It was an animal that appeared 2 million years before Christ and would have died out 10,000 to 15,000 years BC because of a freeze," Luna said. The creature had short legs with clawed toes, a dome-shaped bony shell and armor on its head.

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