Toxodon (from Ancient Greek τόξον (tóxon), meaning "bow", and ὀδούς (odoús), meaning "tooth", in reference to the curvature of the teeth) is an extinct genus of large ungulate native to South America from the Pliocene to the end of the Late Pleistocene. Toxodon is a member of Notoungulata, an order of extinct South American native ungulates distinct from the two living ungulate orders that had been indigenous to the continent for over 60 million years since the early Cenozoic, prior to the arrival of living ungulates into South America around 2.5 million years ago during the Great American Interchange. Toxodon is a member of the family Toxodontidae, which includes medium to large sized herbivores. Toxodon was one of the largest members of Toxodontidae and Notoungulata, with Toxodon platensis having an estimated body mass of 1,000–1,200 kilograms (2,200–2,600 lb). Remains of Toxodon were first collected by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle in 1832-33, and later scientifically named by Richard Owen in 1837. Both Darwin and Owen were puzzled by Toxodon's unusual anatomical features, including its long, ever-growing cheek teeth. Toxodon has been found across much of South America, excluding southern Patagonia, the Andes and the northwestern-most region of the continent, inhabiting steppe, savanna and sometimes woodland habitats. It was one of several genera of toxodontids living during the Pleistocene also including Trigonodops, Mixotoxodon (which ranged as far north as the southern United States) and possibly Piauhytherium. Evidence suggests that Toxodon was ecologically plastic and able to adapt its diet to local conditions. While some authors have suggested that Toxodon was semiaquatic, isotopic analysis has supported a terrestrial lifestyle. Toxodon became extinct as part of the end-Pleistocene extinction event around 12,000 years ago, along with most large mammals across the Americas. The extinctions followed the arrival of humans to South America, who may have been a contributory factor in the extinctions. Several sites have been found suggesting that Toxodon was butchered and possibly hunted by humans.
Taxonomy and evolution
Charles Darwin, who was in South America as part of the second voyaging expedition of HMS Beagle, was one of the first to collect Toxodon fossils. In September–October 1832 and October 1833, Darwin collected several isolated teeth as well as a mandible from various localities in northern Argentina. On November 26, 1833, Darwin paid 18 pence (equivalent to £6.40 in 2018) for a T. platensis skull from a farmer in Uruguay. In his book covering the expedition, The Voyage of the Beagle. Darwin wrote, "November 26th – I set out on my return in a direct line for Montevideo. Having heard of some giant's bones at a neighbouring farm-house on the Sarandis, a small stream entering the Rio Negro, I rode there accompanied by my host, and purchased for the value of eighteen pence the head of the Toxodon." The skull had been propped up against a fence and been used as target practice for throwing stones by local children, who had knocked out its teeth. Since Darwin discovered that the fossils of similar mammals of South America were different from those in Europe, he invoked many debates about the evolution and natural selection of animals. In his own words, Darwin wrote down in his journal,
Lastly, the Toxodon, perhaps one of the strangest animals ever discovered: In size it equaled an elephant or megatherium, but the structure of its teeth, as Mr. Owen states, proves indisputably that it was intimately related to the Gnawers, the order which, at the present day, includes most of the smallest quadrupeds: In many details it is allied to the Pachydermata: Judging from the position of its eyes, ears, and nostrils, it was probably aquatic, like the Dugong and Manatee, to which it is also allied. How wonderfully are the different Orders, at the present time so well separated, blended together in different points of the structure of the Toxodon! Toxodon and its type species, T. platensis, were described in 1837 by Richard Owen based on remains collected by Darwin, in a paper titled "A description of the cranium of the Toxodon platensis, a gigantic extinct mammiferous species, referrible by its dentition to the Rodentia, but with affinities to the Pachydermata and the herbivorous Cetacea", reflecting the many unusual characteristics of its anatomy.
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