The shell of an armadillo from the prehistoric times was unearthed in Uruguay. The fossil is said to be about 10,000 years old.

Two paleontology enthusiasts found the grave, according to one of the discoverers on Sunday.

According to Dr. Gerardo Haran and his colleague Feliciano Rosas, both of whom are veterinarians, the 10,000-year-old armadillo was a glyptodont. They discovered the species' bony armor while digging in a northern Florida province in Uruguay, according to Fox News Latino.

The glyptodont is a massive armadillo-like mammal that thrived on Earth some 10,000 years ago. Its main food sources were plants and insects.

Glyptodonts are known to have had the same size as Volkswagen vehicles. At the time of the Pleistocene epoch, the creatures habituated Patagonia and farther north. They are the ancestors of present-day armadillos as they resemble armadillos' round, bony shells and squat limbs.

They also resemble giant tortoises.

The weight of the armored, bear-like animal found by the two vets reaches up to 1.5 tons. In fact, because of its massive size and weight, the 10,000-year-old armadillo found by Haran and Rosas could reportedly be the largest of the extinct species to have ever been found in the South American country.

In an interview with Spanish international news agency EFE, Dr. Gerardo Haran said he and Rosas unearthed the armadillo's shell accidentally. They were originally digging for "small fossils" when they encountered a "shell" that measures 1.77 meters and is around 5.8 feet long.

"We went together to the bank of the Santa Lucia River. That morning, we began the search and found the shell ... We're very excited," Haran said.

He added that when they discovered the shell of the 10,000-year-old armadillo, they decided to inform local authorities and paleontologists working at Montevideo's Natural History Museum.

The museum is set to conduct various studies on the shell to know more about the extinct species.

The Uruguayan army and the provincial government provided help during the transfer of the massive shell from the site of the dig to the laboratory, where the palaeontologists will be examining it in detail.

According to Florida Gov. Carlos Enciso in a statement to EFE, he considers the 10,000-year-old armadillo discovery "of great importance," adding that the state is offering its help to the researchers when it comes to logistical conditions so they could perform their studies on the fossil further.

"There is a (public) history museum in the province ... and it will have a room made available for this find," Enciso stated.

Want to know more about armadillos? Check out the video below.