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Glyptodons were covered by a protective shell composed of more than 1,000 inch-thick bony plates, called osteoderms or scutes. Each species of glyptodont had its own unique osteoderm pattern and shell type. With this protection, they were armored like turtles, but unlike most turtles, could not withdraw their heads, so they developed a bony cap on the top of their skull. Even the tail of Glyptodon had a ring of bones for protection. The nasal passage was reduced with heavy muscle attatchments for some unknown puropose. Some have speculated that the muscle attachments were for a proboscis, or trunk, much like that of a tapirTapirus bairdii Baird's Tapir Tapirus indicus Malayan Tapir Tapirus pinchaque Mountain Tapir Tapirus terrestris Brazilian Tapir A tapir is a large, browsing animal, roughly the shape of an over-sized pig but with a short, prehensile trunk. Size varies wit or elephantThis page is about the animal, see elephant (disambiguation) for more meanings. Loxodonta Loxodonta cyclotis Loxodonta africana Elephas Elephas maximus Proboscidea is an order including only one family, Elephantidae or the elephants with 3 species: the Sa. However, most animals with a trunk have nasal bones receeding back on the skull, and glyptodonts do not have this feature. The lower jaws were very deep and helped support massive chewing muscles to help chew the coarse fiberus plants that can be found along river and lake banks.

Glyptodons are part of the placental group of mammals known as Edentata, which is generally translated as "toothless mammals". This order of mammals includes anteaterMyrmecophaga Tamandua Cyclopes Anteaters are mammals of the order Xenarthra and the family Myrmecophagidae commonly known for eating ants and termites. The largest representative of the group is the Giant Anteater or Ant-bear Myrmecophaga tridactyla or jus, tree slothMegalonychidae Bradypodidae Sloths are medium-sized South American mammals belonging to the families Megalonychidae and Bradypodidae part of the order Xenarthra. Sloths are herbivores, eating very little other than leaves. Sloths have made extraordinary as, extinctIn biology and ecology, extinction is the disappearance of a species or group of species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species. In species which reproduce sexually, extinction of a species ground slothGround sloths are extinct edentate (Order Xenarthra) mammals that are believed to be relatives of tree sloths and three-toed sloths. They died out approximately 10,000 years ago. The four identified species consist of Harlan's ground sloth Paramylodon hars, aardvarkThis article is about the mammal. See also Aardvark (word). The Aardvark Orycteropus afer [a:dva:k] is a medium-sized mammal native to Africa. The name comes from the Dutch for "earth pig", because early settlers from Europe thought it resembled a pig (als and armadillos. Anteaters have no teeth within their jaws and use a long sticky tongue to capture their food source, ants and termites. The rest of the edentates have teeth that lack enamel (the heavy, shiny coating on teeth) and are mostly molars, with no front teeth in their jaws.

Predators of the glyptodon could have included the sabre-toothed tiger, although this predator would likely have struggled to turn the 1 to 2-ton animal over to reach its unprotected belly.

Glyptodons originated in South America and first appeared in the American Southwest after North and South America connected at the Isthmus of Panama, about 2.5 million years ago. They became extinct about 10,000 years ago.