Megalocnus

Megalocnus ("great sloth" in Greek) is a genus of extinct giant ground sloths that were found on Cuba and Hispaniola. They were among the largest of the Caribbean ground sloths, with individuals estimated to have weighed up to 90 kg (200 lb) when alive. Two species have been described, M. rodens of Cuba, and M. zile of Hispaniola. Their relatives include other Caribbean ground sloths, such as Acratocnus, Mesocnus, Miocnus, Neocnus, Parocnus, and Paulocnus.[1] M. zile is currently thought to be a junior synonym of Parocnus serus.[2]

Megalocnus Temporal range: 126–5 ka PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Late Pleistocene to Holocene
Mounted skeleton of M. rodens, AMNH, New York City
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Pilosa
Family:	†Megalocnidae
Genus:	†Megalocnus Leidy, 1868
Type species
Megalocnus zile Leidy, 1868
Species
†Megalocnus rodens †Megalocnus zile

Subfossils of M. rodens indicate survival well into the Holocene. The most recent AMS radiocarbon date reported is 4190 BP, calibrated to c. 4700 BP.[3] This is similar to the most recent date reported for a Hispaniolan sloth, 4391 BP, calibrated to c. 5000 BP, for the small and probably semiarboreal Neocnus comes,[4] and some 1,200 years after the earliest known date for human occupation of Cuba, 5140 BP, calibrated to c. 5900 BP.[3]

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  M. rodens at Cuban Academy of Sciences, Havana, early 1900s
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  M. rodens at Cuban Museum of Natural History, 2018
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  Partial M. rodens skull
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  Partial view of AMNH mount in left foreground