Oreomylodon

Oreomylodon is an extinct genus of ground sloth in the family Mylodontidae, endemic to Ecuador during the Pleistocene. The only species, O. wegneri, was long considered to be either a species or subgenus[1] of Glossotherium (as G. wegneri) or a junior synonym of Glossotherium robustum, but studies of its cranial anatomy published in 2019 have supported Oreomylodon as a valid genus, and suggested it is more closely related to Paramylodon. It shows adaptations to living in a high-altitude habitat, and its fossils have frequently been unearthed in the Interandean Valles of Ecuador, at elevations of between 2,450 and 3,100 meters.[2]

Oreomylodon
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene
~0.129–0.011 Ma
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Pilosa
Family: †Mylodontidae
Subfamily: †Mylodontinae
Genus: †Oreomylodon
Hoffstetter 1949
Species
  • O. wegneri Spillmann 1931

References
  1. Martin, Paul S.; Klein, Richard G. (1989). Quaternary Extinctions: A Prehistoric Revolution. University of Arizona Press. p. 54. ISBN 9780816511006.
  2. Román-Carrión, José Luis; Brambilla, Luciano (2019). "Comparative skull osteology of Oreomylodon wegneri (Xenarthra, Mylodontinae): defining the taxonomic status of the Ecuadorian endemic ground sloth". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 39 (4). doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1674860. S2CID 209439994.


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