Doedicurus (Ancient Greek δοῖδυξ "pestle" and oυρά "tail") is an extinct genus of glyptodont from South America containing one species, D. clavicaudatus.

Glyptodonts are a member of the family Chlamyphoridae, which also includes some modern armadillo species, and they are classified in the superorder Xenarthra alongside sloths and anteaters.

It notably sported a spiked tail club, which may have weighed 40 or 65 kg (88 or 143 lb) in life, and it may have swung this in defense against predators or in fights with other Doedicurus at speeds of perhaps 11 m/s (40 km/h; 25 mph).

The animal was first described by British paleontologist Richard Owen in 1847, the fifth glyptodont species described after Glyptodon clavipes, G. reticulatus, G. tuberculatus (now Panochthus), and G. ornatus (now Neosclerocalyptus).

The type specimen was a partial tail which seemed to indicate a massive club, so Owen assigned the name G. clavicaudatus (the species name deriving from Latin meaning "club-tailed").

[2] Doedicurus was a glyptodont, most closely related to modern armadillos, thus a member of the superorder Xenarthra (along with sloths and anteaters) endemic to South America.

[3][4] In 1997, Malcolm C. McKenna and Susan K. Bell in their comprehensive revision of mammal taxonomy assigned all glyptodonts to the superfamily Glyptodontoidea, which included the families Pampatheriidae, Palaeopeltidae, and Glyptodontidae.

Doedicurus was classified into Glyptodontidae in the subfamily Doedicurinae, alongside Eleutherocercus, Prodaedicurus, Comaphorus, Castellanosia, Xiphuroides, Daedicuroides, and Plaxhaplous.

[7] Based on this and the fossil record, glyptodonts would have evolved their characteristic shape and large size (gigantism) quite rapidly, possibly in response to the cooling, drying climate and expansion of open savannas.

Cladogram of glyptodonts after Barasoain et al. 2022:[8]Boreostemma Glyptotherium Glyptodon Propalaehoplophorus Eucinepeltus Cochlops Palaehoplophorus Kelenkura Eosclerocalyptus Plohophorus Pseudohoplophorus Doedicurus Eleutherocercus Neosclerocalyptus Hoplophorus Propanochthus Panochthus Glyptodonts have hypsodont dentition, and the teeth also never stopped growing in life, so they are assumed to have fed predominantly on grass.

Nonetheless, Doedicurus and other large glyptodonts appear to have had a markedly reduced gape, and the teeth have relatively small grinding surfaces, which indicate they were incapable of thoroughly chewing food.

[16] Because earlier, smaller glyptodonts do not share similar weight distribution, the adoption of a bipedal stance may be related to increasing body size.

[12] The accuracy needed to strike a target with the club may only have been attainable with a stationary adversary, further supporting use in ritualistic combat rather than predator defense.

Glyptodonts would have encountered new large mammalian carnivores such as the short-faced bear, saber toothed cats such as Smilodon and Homotherium, and the jaguar.

[19] In addition to bears and cats, other immigrants to South America include horses, camels, deer, elephants (gomphotheres), tapirs, and New World rats.

[11][24] A 2019 study suggested that these Holocene ages at Pampean sites are underestimates due to contamination by humic acids, more likely dating to the Late Pleistocene.