H. Gregory McDonald

Baraguatherium takumara , Gen. et Sp. Nov., the Earliest Mylodontoid Sloth (Early Miocene) from Northern South America

We report a new genus and species of sloth, based on a partial mandible and associated femur, from the early Miocene of Venezuela. Baraguatherium takumara, gen. et sp. nov., represents the earliest member of the Mylodontoidea recognized from northern South America. Phylogenetically and morphologically, Baraguatherium possesses some plesiomorphic characters: a vasodentine layer in the core of the tooth similar to Octodontotherium, Paroctodontotherium, and Orophodon; molariforms parallel to the long axis of the toothrow; teeth with a very thin layer of cementum; mf1-mf3 series of similar size and bilobate; mf3 conspicuously piriform; and occlusal surface of tooth beveled, which places it at the base of the Mylodontidae clade. Baraguatherium was found in continental deposits that also preserve abundant wood and leaves associated with a near shore marine complex, indicating that Baraguatherium lived in a coastal tropical forest in the early Miocene in northern South America. The presence of a vasodentine layer in the core of the tooth is quite similar to Octodontotherium, Paroctodontotherium, and Orophodon and allows assignment of this new taxon to the Mylodontoidea.

Footprints preserve terminal Pleistocene hunt? Human-sloth interactions in North America

Contemporaneous sloth and human footprints from the terminal Pleistocene at White Sands National Monument suggest stalking. Predator-prey interactions revealed by vertebrate trace fossils are extremely rare. We present footprint evidence from White Sands National Monument in New Mexico for the association of sloth and human trackways. Geologically, the sloth and human trackways were made contemporaneously, and the sloth trackways show evidence of evasion and defensive behavior when associated with human tracks. Behavioral inferences from these trackways indicate prey selection and suggest that humans were harassing, stalking, and/or hunting the now-extinct giant ground sloth in the terminal Pleistocene.

A new genus of megalonychid ground sloth (Mammalia, Xenarthra) from the late Pleistocene of Quintana Roo, Mexico

ABSTRACT A new genus and species of late Pleistocene megalonychid sloth, Nohochichak xibalbahkah, gen. et sp. nov., is described from Hoyo Negro, a chamber in the Sac Actun cave system, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that this new sloth is most closely related to Meizonyx salvadorensis from the middle Pleistocene of El Salvador, and that these two genera in turn are the sister clade to Megistonyx and Ahytherium in South America and not the other North American megalonychids, Pliometanastes and Megalonyx. This new sloth indicates that the number of sloth taxa involved in the Great American Biotic Interchange is greater than previously understood, and that a significant part of the Interchange biodiversity, as represented by taxa confined to the semitropical and tropical portions of Central and North America, remains to be discovered.

Increased xenarthran diversity of the Great American Biotic Interchange: a new genus and species of ground sloth (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Megalonychidae) from the Hemphillian (late Miocene) of Jalisco, Mexico

Abstract. A new genus and species of megalonychid sloth, Zacatzontli tecolotlanensis n. gen. n. sp., is described from the late Hemphillian of Jalisco, Mexico. Comparison and analysis of the type specimen, a mandible, with other megalonychid sloths shows a closer relationship to South American taxa than those from North America or the Caribbean. This suggests that during the early stages of the Great American Biotic Interchange there were two separate dispersal events of megalonychid sloths—an earlier one represented by Pliometanastes and the later one by Zacatzontli n. gen. While the morphology of the spout of Zacatzontli more closely resembles that of Megalonyx, based on the current record, Zacatzontli does does not enter North America until after the evolution of Megalonyx from Pliometanastes. The role of the northern neotropics in South America as a staging area for South American taxa that entered North America is discussed.

Modern botanical analogue of endangered Yak (Bos mutus) dung from India: Plausible linkage with living and extinct megaherbivores

The study present to document the micro and macrobotanical remain on wild Yak dung to understand the diet, habitat, and ecology in relation to determining possible ecological relationships with extant and extinct megaherbivores. Grasses are the primary diet of the yak as indicated by the abundance of grass pollen and phytoliths, though it is obvious. The other associates non-arboreal and arboreal taxa namely, Cyperacaeae, Rosaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Artemisia, Prunus, and Rhododendron are also important dietary plants for their survival. The observation of plant macrobotanical remains especially the vegetative part and seed of the grasses and Cyperaceae also indicates good agreement with the palynodata. The documented micro and macrobotanical data is indicative of both Alpine meadow and steppe vegetation under cold and dry climate which exactly reflected the current vegetation composition and climate in the region. The recovery of Botryococcus, Arcella, and diatom was marked though in trace values and suggestive of the perennial water system in the region which incorporated through the ingestion of water. Energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis marked that the element contained in dung samples has variation in relation to the summer and winter which might be the availability of the food plants and vegetation. This generated multiproxy data serves as a strong supplementary data for modern pollen and vegetation relationship based on surface soil samples in the region. The recorded multiproxy data could be useful to interpret the coprolites of herbivorous fauna in relation to the palaeodietary and paleoecology in the region and to correlate with other mega herbivores in a global context.

Phylogeny, Macroevolutionary Trends and Historical Biogeography of Sloths: Insights From a Bayesian Morphological Clock Analysis

Sloths, like other xenarthrans, are an extremely interesting group of mammals that, after a long history of evolution and diversification in South America, became established on islands in the Caribbean and later reached North America during the Great American Biotic Interchange. In all three regions, they were part of the impressive Pleistocene megafauna. Most taxa became extinct and only two small, distantly related tree-dwelling genera survived. Here, we incorporate several recently described genera of sloths into an assembled morphological data supermatrix and apply Bayesian inference, using phylogenetic and morphological clock methods, to 64 sloth genera. Thus, we investigate the evolution of the group in terms of the timing of divergence of different lineages and their diversity, morphological disparity and biogeographical history. The phylogeny obtained supports the existence of the commonly recognized clades for the group. Our results provide divergence time estimates for the major clades within Folivora that could not be dated with molecular methods. Lineage diversity shows an early increase, reaching a peak in the Early Miocene followed by a major drop at the end of the Santacrucian (Early Miocene). A second peak in the Late Miocene was also followed by a major drop at the end of the Huayquerian (Late Miocene). Both events show differential impact at the family level. After that, a slight Plio-Pleistocene decline was observed before the marked drop with the extinction at the end of the Pleistocene. Phenotypic evolutionary rates were high during the early history of the clade, mainly associated with Mylodontidae, but rapidly decreased to lower values around 25 Ma, whereas Megalonychidae had lower rates at the beginning followed by a steady increase, peaking during the Late Miocene and the Pliocene. Morphological disparity showed a similar trend, with an early increase, followed by a slowly increasing phase through the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene, and ending with another increase beginning at the middle of the Miocene. Biogeographic analysis showed southern South America as the most probable area of origin of the clade and the main region in which the early diversification events took place. Both Megatheriinae and Nothrotheriinae basal nodes were strongly correlated with Andean uplift events, whereas the early history of Mylodontidae is closely associated with southern South America and also shows an early occupation of the northern regions. Within Megalonychidae, our results show Choloepus as a descendant of an island dispersing ancestor and a probable re-ingression to South America by a clade that originated in Central or North America.

Two new megalonychid sloths (Mammalia: Xenarthra) from the Urumaco Formation (late Miocene), and their phylogenetic affinities

Here we describe two new megalonychid sloths from the late Miocene of the Urumaco Formation (Falcón State, Venezuela), Urumacocnus urbanii gen. et. sp. nov. and Pattersonocnus diazgameroi gen. et sp. nov. The recovery of these distinct taxa greatly improves our understanding of sloth diversity in the late Miocene of northern South America. A phylogenetic analysis based on the combination of cranial and postcranial elements (particularly the femur) partially supports previous interpretations of the relationships of genera within the Megalonychidae, but also suggests the existence of a more complex set of subclades within the family in South America, North America and the Antilles. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:594532F8-9E25-4282-B1AD-9FC5484DFD91

Fusion of anterior thoracic vertebrae in Pleistocene ground sloths

ABSTRACT A previous study reported the fusion of spinous processes of thoracic vertebrae one and two in the ground sloth Glossotherium, proposing an injury or a congenital deformation as possible causes. In this paper we examined members of four families of Pleistocene sloths (Mylodontidae, Megatheriidae, Nothrotheriidae and Megalonychidae) to document the presence of this condition in different genera. We found that of nine genera analyzed, Glossotherium and Megalonyx were the only that present fusion of the spinous processes, which consistently occur between T1 and T2. When only identified T1 and T2 were considered, the incidence of the fusion was 87.5% in the case of Glossotherium and 40% in the case of Megalonyx. The high incidence of fusion in almost only one genus almost certainly would preclude the possibility of having been caused by an injury. We discuss the possibility that the observed fusions could be related to a pathological condition, or a mechanical response due to repetitive movements or particular habits.