Form and Function in the Xenarthra–an Introduction to the Symposium Proceedings Volume

This special issue of the Journal of Mammalian Evolution represents the proceedings from a symposium held in conjunction with the 9th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM IX, Punta del Este, Uruguay, July 29, 2010), and entitled “Form and Function in the Xenarthra.” This symposium was the third on xenarthran biology to be presented in association with the ICVM meetings. In this brief introduction to the symposium proceedings, we plan to discuss the justification for the symposium, to provide a brief history of previous symposia and their results, and to introduce the contents of the present volume.