''Mcdonaldocnus'' is an extinct genus of nothrotheriid ground sloths that lived during the Middle Miocene and Early Pliocene of what is now

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. 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 The Cerro Azul Formation ( es, Formación Cerro Azul), in the Buenos Aires Province also described as Epecuén Formation, is a geological formation of Late Miocene (Tortonian, or Huayquerian in the SALMA classification) age in the Colorado Basin ...

of Argentina.

Etymology

The genus name, ''Mcdonaldocnus'', is composed of the prefix ''Mcdonald-'', which honors the retired U.S.

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

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 the greek suffix ''-ocnus'', meaning "hesitating or inactive", which is commonly used to name extinct sloths. The species name, ''Mcdonaldocnus bondesioi'', honors the paleontologist Pedro Bondesio

Description

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q112123888 Prehistoric sloths Prehistoric placental genera Miocene xenarthrans Miocene mammals of South America Pliocene xenarthrans Pliocene mammals of South America Montehermosan Huayquerian Chasicoan Mayoan Laventan Colloncuran Friasian Fossil taxa described in 2022 Neogene Bolivia Fossils of Bolivia Neogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Cerro Azul Formation