''Neocnus'' is an

extinct 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 ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 Caribbe ...

, whose species ranged across

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

(today split between

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

and the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

). ''Neocnus'' would have resembled a typical ground sloth, though much smaller, with a longer tail and a broad trunk, as well as lissome limbs and long claws. This sloth was known for having caudal vertebrae that were broad, a trait shared with other ground sloths, indicating that this animal, like the tamandua of today, likely used its tail to stand upright. The caniniform teeth of the ''Neocnus'' were large and triangular, and its skull was deep and had a large, sagittal crest which, when used with the deep mandible likely allowed strong exertion by the masticatory muscles. The fossils of this sloth were found in Haitian cave deposits. They have been dated to as recently as 4391 BP, calibrated to c. 5000 BP. It is theorized that this sloth, in common with other Antillean sloths, was most likely hunted to extinction by the

indigenous peoples of the Caribbean At the time of first contact between Europe and the Americas, the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean included the Taíno of the northern Lesser Antilles, most of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas, the Kalinago of the Lesser Antilles, the Ciguay ...

for its pelt and meat. ''Neocnus'' is suspected of having been semi-arboreal.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6992206 Prehistoric sloths Pleistocene xenarthrans Pleistocene mammals of North America Prehistoric placental genera category:Mammals of the Caribbean Mammals of Hispaniola category:Mammals of Cuba Extinct animals of Haiti Extinct animals of the Dominican Republic category:Mammals of the Dominican Republic category:Mammals of Haiti

See also

References