Fresh discoveries of remains in the pleiocene formation had emboldened other geologists to refer back the human species to a higher antiquity still.

上新世地层遗迹的新发现， 让其他地质学家有勇气将人类追溯到更古老的时期。

They had been the coverings of those gigantic glyptodons or armadilloes of the pleiocene period, of which the modern tortoise is but a miniature representative.

它们是上新世时期那些巨大的雕齿兽或犰狳的覆盖物，而现代的陆龟只是其中的一个缩影。