''Nothropus'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of ground sloth of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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, th ...

, endemic to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

epoch. It lived from 0.781 mya—12,000 years ago existing for approximately . It was believed to be a ground-dwelling herbivore.

Taxonomy

''Nothropus priscus'' and ''Nothropus nordenskioldi'' are described as subtaxa. ''Nothropus'' was named by

Hermann Burmeister Karl Hermann Konrad Burmeister (also known as Carlos Germán Conrado Burmeister) (15 January 1807 – 2 May 1892) was a German Argentine zoologist, entomologist, herpetologist, botanist, and coleopterologist. He served as a professor at the Uni ...

(1882). It was assigned to

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 datin ...

by L. G. Marshall and T. Sempere (1991) and to Nothrotheriidae by Christian de Muizon et al. (2004).

Fossil distribution

Fossils have been uncovered from the

Tarija Formation Tarija or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa is a city in southern Bolivia. Founded in 1574, Tarija is the largest city and capital and municipality within the Tarija Department, with an airport (Capitán Oriel Lea Plaza Airport, (TJA)) offe ...

Tarija Department Tarija () is a department in Bolivia. It is located in south-eastern Bolivia bordering with Argentina to the south and Paraguay to the east. According to the 2012 census, it has a population of 482,196 inhabitants. It has an area of . The city ...

, Bolivia, east side of the Andes Mountains.Paleobiology Database: ''Nothropus'', collections.
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References

* ''Classification of Mammals'' by Malcolm C. McKenna and Susan K. Bell Prehistoric sloths Prehistoric placental genera Pleistocene xenarthrans Pleistocene first appearances Pleistocene extinctions Pleistocene mammals of South America Ensenadan Pleistocene Bolivia Fossils of Bolivia Fossil taxa described in 1882 {{paleo-mammal-stub