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Megathericulus
''Megathericulus'' is an extinct genus of ground sloths in the Megatheriidae family. It lived during the Middle Miocene, 11-16 million years ago in what is now South America . Fossils have been found principally in Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. It is a smaller representative of the megatheres. Despite being one of the earliest-known members of the family, its dentition structure is associated with homodont teeth belonging to the more modern line of development. The genus was scientifically named in 1904. Only one species is currently recognized, ''Megathericulus patagonicus.'' Description ''Megathericulus'' is a small member of the Megatheriidae. The known find material of the genus consists of individual skull finds, remains of teeth and parts of the musculoskeletal system. The skull measured up to 33 cm in length, it was elongated and narrow with the greatest width in the area of the anterior zygomatic arch and the mastoid process and slight constrictions near the orbit. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proeremotherium
''Proeremotherium'' is an extinct genus of megatheriine ground sloths in the family Megatheriidae. It lived during the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene of what is now Venezuela. So far, two largely complete skulls have been recovered in the Falcón Basin in Venezuela. The finds identify the animals as medium-sized representatives of the Megatheriidae. In the cranial anatomy, ''Proeremotherium'' resembles the later and giant ''Eremotherium''. It is therefore assumed that the two ground sloths are directly related to each other. Etymology The genus name, ''Proeremotherium'', is derived from the Latin prefix pro- meaning "before", and the genus ''Eremotherium'' in reference to the assumed close relationship between the two genera. The specific name refers to the locality where the holotype was discovered, in the El Jebe Member of the Codore Formation. Description ''Proeremotherium'' was a medium-sized member of the Megatheriidae and significantly smaller than the related ''Ere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friasian
The Friasian age is a period of geologic time (16.3–15.5 Ma) within the Early Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification of South America. It follows the Santacrucian and precedes the Colloncuran age. Etymology The age is named after the Río Frías Formation in the Aysén Basin, Patagonia, Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a .... Formations Fossils References Bibliography ;Río Frías Formation * * * * * ;Castilletes Formation * * * * * * * * ;Cerdas Beds * ;Chilcatay Formation * * * * ;Cura-Mallín Group * * * ;Gran Bajo del Gualicho Formation * ;Parángula Formation * ;Pebas Formation * * ;Río Foyel Formation * * ;Río Yuca Formation * {{SALMA Miocene S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eremotherium
''Eremotherium'' (from Greek for "steppe" or "desert beast": ἔρημος "steppe or desert" and θηρίον "beast") is an extinct genus of giant ground sloth, in the family Megatheriidae, the largest and most heavily built family of sloths. ''Eremotherium'' lived in the southern parts of North America and the northern parts of South America from the Pliocene, around 5.3 million years ago, to the end of the Late Pleistocene, around 10,000 years ago. ''Eremotherium'' was widespread in tropical and subtropical lowlands and lived there in partly open and closed landscapes, while its close relative ''Megatherium'' lived in more temperate climes. Both genera reached the size of today's elephants and were among the largest mammals in the Americas. Characteristic of ''Eremotherium'' was its robust physique with comparatively long limbs and front and hind feet especially for later representatives- three fingers. However, the skull is relatively gracile, the teeth are uniform and high ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megatheriinae
Megatheriinae is a subfamily of the Megatheriidae, an extinct family of ground sloths that lived from the Middle Miocene to the Early Holocene. Classification Within the Megatheriidae there are two (possibly three) subfamilies; the Megatheriinae and the Planopsinae. The phylogenetically older group is represented by the Planopsinae from the Lower and Middle Miocene. These still possessed a caniniform anterior tooth, which was separated from the posterior molar-like teeth by a small diastema . The more derived Megatheriinae, which are known from the Middle Miocene to the Early Holocene, on the other hand, had fully homodontic molars in a closed row. Originally, the subfamilies of the Nothrotheriinae and the Schismotheriinae were also placed in the Megatheriidae. Based on skull studies, the Nothrotheriidae, in which, among other genera, ''Nothrotherium'', ''Nothrotheriops,'' and the semiaquatic ''Thalassocnus ''Thalassocnus'' is an extinct genus of semiaquatic ground sloths from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planopsinae
Megatheriidae is a family of extinct ground sloths that lived from approximately 23 mya—11,000 years ago. Megatheriids appeared during the Late Oligocene (Deseadan in the SALMA classification), some 29 million years ago, in South America. The group includes the heavily built ''Megatherium'' (given its name 'great beast' by Georges Cuvier) and ''Eremotherium''. An early genus that was originally considered a megatheriid, the more slightly built ''Hapalops'', reached a length of about . The nothrotheres have recently been placed in their own family, Nothrotheriidae. The skeletal structure of these ground sloths indicates that the animals were massive. Their thick bones and even thicker joints (especially those on the hind legs) gave their appendages tremendous power that, combined with their size and fearsome claws, provided a formidable defense against predators. The earliest megatheriid in North America was ''Sibotherium'' which arrived 5.3 million years ago, after crossi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megatheriidae
Megatheriidae is a family of extinct ground sloths that lived from approximately 23 mya—11,000 years ago. Megatheriids appeared during the Late Oligocene (Deseadan in the SALMA classification), some 29 million years ago, in South America. The group includes the heavily built '' Megatherium'' (given its name 'great beast' by Georges Cuvier) and ''Eremotherium''. An early genus that was originally considered a megatheriid, the more slightly built ''Hapalops'', reached a length of about . The nothrotheres have recently been placed in their own family, Nothrotheriidae. The skeletal structure of these ground sloths indicates that the animals were massive. Their thick bones and even thicker joints (especially those on the hind legs) gave their appendages tremendous power that, combined with their size and fearsome claws, provided a formidable defense against predators. The earliest megatheriid in North America was ''Sibotherium'' which arrived 5.3 million years ago, after cros ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nothrotheriidae
Nothrotheriidae is a family of extinct ground sloths that lived from approximately 17.5 mya—10,000 years ago, existing for approximately . Previously placed within the tribe Nothrotheriini or subfamily Nothrotheriinae within Megatheriidae, they are now usually placed in their own family, Nothrotheriidae. Nothrotheriids appeared in the Burdigalian, some 19.8 million years ago, in South America. The group includes the comparatively slightly built ''Nothrotheriops'', which reached a length of about . While nothrotheriids were small compared to some of their megatheriid relatives, their claws provided an effective defense against predators, like those of larger anteaters today. Evolution During the late Miocene and Pliocene, the sloth genus ''Thalassocnus'' of the west coast of South America became adapted to a shallow-water marine lifestyle. However, the family placement of ''Thalassocnus'' has been disputed; while long considered a nothrotheriid, one recent analysis moves it to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diabolotherium
''Diabolotherium'' is an extinct genus of megatheriine ground sloth, known from the Late Pleistocene of Peru. Unlike most other extinct mainland sloths, it seems to have been a climber, similar to extinct sloths from the Caribbean. Fossils of the genus were found at the coastal Piedra Escrita site and the Andean Casa del Diablo cave. Description ''Diabolotherium'' is a relatively small member of the Megatherioidea, though its specific phylogenetic position is unclear. It is known from a number of individual bones and a partial skeleton. A complete skull is known, but has not yet been described. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Río Negro Province
Río Negro (, ''Black River'') is a province of Argentina, located in northern Patagonia. Neighboring provinces are from the south clockwise Chubut, Neuquén, Mendoza, La Pampa and Buenos Aires. To the east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Viedma near the Atlantic outlet of the province's namesake river in the eastern extreme. The largest city is in the Andean foothills Bariloche in the far west. Other important cities include General Roca and Cipolletti. History Ferdinand Magellan was the first European explorer to visit the coasts of the provinces in 1520. Italian priest Nicolás Mascardi founded the Jesuit mission ''Nuestra Señora de Nahuel Huapi'' in 1670 at the shore of the Nahuel Huapi Lake, at the feet of the Andes range. Originally part of the Argentine territory called Patagonia (in 1878 the ''Gobernación de la Patagonia''), in 1884 it was organised into the ''Territorio Nacional del Río Negro'' and General Lorenzo Vintter was appointed as the territor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three-toed Sloth
The three-toed or three-fingered sloths are arboreal neotropical mammals . They are the only members of the genus ''Bradypus'' and the family Bradypodidae. The four living species of three-toed sloths are the brown-throated sloth, the maned sloth, the pale-throated sloth, and the pygmy three-toed sloth. In complete contrast to past morphological studies, which tended to place ''Bradypus'' as the sister group to all other folivorans, molecular studies place them nested within the sloth superfamily Megatherioidea, making them the only surviving members of that radiation. Extant species Evolution A study of mitochondrial cytochrome b and 16S rRNA sequences suggests that '' B. torquatus'' diverged from '' B. variegatus'' and '' B. tridactylus'' about 12 million years ago, while the latter two split 5 to 6 million years ago. The diversification of ''B. variegatus'' lineages was estimated to have started 4 to 5 million years ago. Relation to the two-toed sloth Both types of sloth t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megalonychidae
Megalonychidae is an extinct family of sloths including the extinct ''Megalonyx''. Megalonychids first appeared in the early Oligocene, about 35 million years (Ma) ago, in southern Argentina (Patagonia). There is actually one possible find dating to the Eocene, about 40 Ma ago, on Seymour Island in Antarctica (which was then still connected to South America). They first reached North America by island-hopping across the Central American Seaway, about 9 million years ago, prior to formation of the Isthmus of Panama about 2.7 million years ago (which led to the main pulse of the Great American Interchange). Some megalonychid lineages increased in size as time passed. The first species of these were small and may have been partly tree-dwelling, whereas the Pliocene (about 5 to 2 million years ago) species were already approximately half the size of the huge Late Pleistocene ''Megalonyx jeffersonii'' from the last ice age.J.L. White (1993) It was formerly believed, based on morpholo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Collón Curá Formation
The Collón Curá Formation ( es, Formación Collón Curá) is a Middle Miocene fossiliferous geological formation of the southern Neuquén Basin in northwestern Patagonia and the western Cañadón Asfalto Basin of central Patagonia, Argentina. The formation crops out from the southern Neuquén Province, the western Río Negro Province to the northern Chubut Province. The formation, with a maximum thickness of , comprises tuffs and sandstones with minor siltstones, marls and limestones, deposited in a fluvial, river delta, deltaic and shallow to deep lacustrine depositional environment, environment in small basins separated by Fault (geology), faults. The formation dates from the Langhian to Tortonian, earliest Tortonian epochs of the Middle to Late Miocene, typically Colloncuran. The Collón Curá Formation is named after Estancia Collón Curá (1 on the map in the infobox) along the Collón Curá River (2), a tributary of the Limay River in the Río Negro (Argentina), Río Negr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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