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Nothrotheriinae
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lakukullus
''Lakukullus'' is an extinct genus of nothrotheriid ground sloths that lived during the Middle Miocene around 13.8 to 11.8 million years ago of what is now Bolivia. Etymology The genus name, ''Lakukullus'', is composed of "Laku’kullu", which means "wild animal of heights" in Aymara, a native Bolivian language, which refers to the locality the specimen was found. The specific name is derived from the Latin word "anatisrostratum", which means "duck beak" in reference to the aspect of the snout appearing physically similar to the bill of an aquatic bird. Classification ''Lakukullus'' is a genus from the now extinct family of Nothrotheriidae. The Nothrotheriidae are represented by rather medium-sized members of the suborder of sloths, Folivora. Their phylogenetically younger members possessed a dentition reduced by the anterior-most tooth per mandibular arch, diverging from other sloth groups.H. Gregory McDonald und Gerardo de Iuliis: ''Fossil history of sloths.'' In: Sergio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aymaratherium
''Aymaratherium'' is an extinct genus of nothrotheriid ground sloths that lived during the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene of Bolivia. Fossils of ''Aymaratherium'' have been found in the Pomata Ayte locality of the Umala Formation. Etymology The genus name, ''Aymaratherium'', is derived from the Aymara, a native ethnic group and language from the Andes, and ''therion'', meaning "beast". The specific name honors Jean Joinville Vacher, for his friendship and constant support for palaeontological investigations over the years. Discovery ''Aymaratherium'' was first described in 2016 on the basis of a nearly complete right dentary (specimen MNHN-Bol-V 008954), which was made of the holotype. In addition, three complete humeri (MNHN-Bol-V 003789, 012874 and 012875), a right astragalus (MNHN-Bol-V 012983), and a complete right calcaneus (MNHN-Bol-V 003307) have also been assigned to the genus. The locality of the holotype was recovered from the Pomata-Ayte locality, in the Umala Forma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mcdonaldocnus
''Mcdonaldocnus'' is an extinct genus of nothrotheriid ground sloths that lived during the Middle Miocene and Early Pliocene of what is now Bolivia and Argentina. It was originally placed in the genus '' Xyophorus'' but was subsequently recognized as a distinct genus by Gaudin and colleagues in 2022. The authors reassigned the material of "''Xyophorus" bondesioi'', ''Xyophorus'' ''villarroeli'' and ''Xyophorus'' sp. to ''Mcdonaldocnus.'' Fossils of ''Mcdonaldocnus'' have been found in the Cerro Azul Formation of Argentina. Etymology The genus name, ''Mcdonaldocnus'', is composed of the prefix ''Mcdonald-'', which honors the retired U.S. Bureau of Land Management scientist Dr. H. Gregory McDonald, a notable sloth Sloths are a group of Neotropical xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their li ... specialist, and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huilabradys
''Huilabradys'' is an extinct genus of ground sloths of the family Nothrotheriidae that lived in what is now Colombia. ''Huilabradys'' was discovered in the strata of the La Tatacoa desert in the Huila department, in the Villavieja Formation, and is part of the so-called La Venta fauna, a fossiliferous location from the mid-Miocene period that has provided a notable paleontological contribution on the Miocene faunas of northern South America. The remains discovered are basically fragments of the jaws and teeth, allowed the identification of this species, whose only species is ''Huilabradys magdaleniensis'', and was classified as a member of the nothrotheriid subfamily Nothrotheriinae, which comprises small to medium-sized species of ground sloths. Etymology The genus name, ''Huilabradys'', is derived from the Huila Department in Colombia and ''bradys'' meaning "slow". The specific name refers to the Magdalena River where the holotype was found. Description ''Huilabradys'' i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chasicobradys
''Chasicobradys'' is an extinct genus of ground sloths of the family Nothrotheriidae that lived in what is now Argentina. ''Chasicobradys'' was discovered in the Arroyo Chasicó Formation, in Buenos Aires Province. It is only known from jaw fragments and teeth, which allowed the identification of this species, and was classified as a member of the nothrotheriid subfamily Nothrotheriinae, which comprises small to medium-sized species of ground sloths. Etymology The genus name, ''Chasicobradys'', is derived from the Arroyo Chasicó Formation in Argentina and ''bradys'' meaning "slow". was found. The specific name means "intermediate". Description ''Chasicobradys'' is a medium-sized species, similar in size to the Argentine species '' Neohapalops rothi'', characterized by a very high mandibular ramus and characteristics of its molariform teeth, such as the lack of a diastema between the first and second molars and the oblique location of the fourth molars. ''Chasicobradys' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mionothropus
''Mionothropus'' is an extinct genus of nothrotheriine nothrotheriid sloth which existed in Peru in the western Amazon Basin, during the late Miocene (Huayquerian age). It is known from the holotype LACM 4609/117533, which includes cranial remains, recovered from the riverbank deposits of the Iñapari Formation in the Río Acre region, were originally assigned to '' Nothropus priscus''. It was first named by Gerardo De Iuliis, Timothy J. Gaudin and Matthew J. Vicars in 2011 and the type species is ''Mionothropus cartellei''. The generic name is derived from "Mio", is a reference to the Miocene provenance of the holotype, and "nothropus" refers to the initial allocation of the holotype to this genus from the South American Pleistocene. The specific name honours Dr. Castor Cartelle. Phylogeny Cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, how ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thalassocnus
''Thalassocnus'' is an extinct genus of semiaquatic ground sloths from the Miocene and Pliocene of the Pacific South American coast. It is monotypic within the subfamily Thalassocninae. The five species—''T. antiquus'', ''T. natans'', ''T. littoralis'', ''T. carolomartini'', and ''T. yuacensis''—represent a chronospecies, a population gradually adapting to marine life in one direct lineage. They are the only known aquatic sloths, but they may have also been adapted to a terrestrial lifestyle. They have been found in the Pisco Formation of Peru, the Tafna Formation of Argentina, and the Bahía Inglesa, Coquimbo, and Horcón formations of Chile. Thalassocninae has been placed in both the families Megatheriidae and Nothrotheriidae. ''Thalassocnus'' evolved several marine adaptations over the course of 4 million years, such as dense and heavy bones to counteract buoyancy, the internal nostrils migrating farther into the head to help with breathing while completely submerged, ... [...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] |
Ground Sloth
Ground sloths are a diverse group of extinct sloths in the mammalian superorder Xenarthra. The term is used to refer to all extinct sloths because of the large size of the earliest forms discovered, compared to existing tree sloths. The Caribbean ground sloths, the most recent survivors, lived in the Antilles, possibly until 1550 BCE. However, radiocarbon dating suggests an age of between 2819 and 2660 BCE for the last occurrence of ''Megalocnus'' in Cuba. Ground sloths had been extinct on the mainland of North and South America for 10,000 years or more. They survived 5,000–6,000 years longer in the Caribbean than on the American mainland, which correlates with the later colonization of this area by humans. Much ground sloth evolution took place during the late Paleogene and Neogene of South America, while the continent was isolated. At their earliest appearance in the fossil record, the ground sloths were already distinct at the family level. The presence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point. Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "reappears" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence. More than 99% of all species that ever lived on Earth, amounting to over five billion species, are estimated to have died out. It is estimated that there are currently around 8.7 million species of eukaryote globally, and possibly many times more if microorganisms, like bacteria, are included. Notable extinct animal species include non-avian dinosaurs, saber-toothed cats, dodos, m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pronothrotherium
''Pronothrotherium'' is an extinct genus of ground sloths from Argentina and Uruguay. Fossils of ''Pronothrotherium'' have been found in the Ituzaingó Formation of Argentina.''Pronothrotherium'' at Fossilworks
Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database
The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ... .org The body weight of the animal has been estimated at .
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