''Brievabradys'' is an extinct genus of

ground sloth Ground sloths are a diverse group of extinct sloths in the mammalian superorder Xenarthra. They varied widely in size with the largest, belonging to genera '' Lestodon'', ''Eremotherium'' and ''Megatherium'', being around the size of elephants. ...

belonging to the family

Mylodontidae Mylodontidae is a family of extinct South American and North American ground sloths within the suborder Folivora of order Pilosa, living from around 23 million years ago (Mya) to 11,000 years ago. This family is most closely related to another fa ...

that lived in Colombia during the Middle Miocene. This genus was discovered in the Honda Group of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, in the strata of the Tatacoa Desert in the

Huila Department Huila () is one of the departments of Colombia. It is located in the southwest of the country, and its capital is Neiva. Demography and Ethnography Huila department had a population of 1,122,622 inhabitants in 2020, of which 679,667 (60.54%) ...

with an approximate age of 13 to 11 million years ago, dating to the Middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

.Villarroel, Carlos
A new Mylodontinae (Xenarthra, Tardigrada) in the Miocene sale fauna of Colombia : the current status of the family Orophodontidae
, url=http://www.accefyn.org.co/revista/Vol_24/90/117-127.pdf , date=20131029192656. ''Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales'' (Bogotá) Vol. 24, No. 090, Mar. 2000 p. 117-127. ''Brievabradys'' was described based on a fossilized

skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

and additional cranial remains found in that area.

Description

This genus of sloth is characterized by its small size, which is similar to that of the extant two-toed sloth '' Choloepus'' ), a skull expanded backwards, a short and robust

mandible In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

without a

diastema A diastema (: diastemata, from Greek , 'space') is a space or gap between two teeth. Many species of mammals have diastemata as a normal feature, most commonly between the incisors and molars. More colloquially, the condition may be referred to ...

between the teeth, while the first of these possessed a shape similar to that of

canine teeth In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dogteeth, eye teeth, vampire teeth, or fangs, are the relatively long, pointed teeth. In the context of the upper jaw, they are also known as '' fangs''. They can appear more fl ...

Discovery and naming

The first remains of ''Brievabradys'' were discovered in the Honda Group of

, in the strata of the Tatacoa Desert in the

with an approximate age of 13 to 11 million years ago, dating to the Middle

. The remains of this genus had already been known for some time, but their similarity to other members of the superfamily Mylodontoidea had led to the first referred cranial remains which were not as complete as the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

of ''Brievabradys'', being identified as the Argentine genus '' Glossotheriopsis''. Later examinations would show that despite their general resemblance, they had different characteristics, especially in the shortening of the snout, wider and lower nostrils and differences in the characteristics of their molariform teeth. These characteristics, according to the original publication, indicate that ''Brievabradys'' and ''Glossotheriopsis'' belong to the subfamily Mylodontinae of the family Mylodontidae, both being related in turn to the species '' Orophodon hapaloides''. The generic name, Brievabradys, is derived from "Brieva", referring to two scholars of the

National University of Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, ...

, the brothers Eduardo and Jorge E. Brieva, and ''bradys'' meaning "slow" or "lazy", while the specific name refers to the La Venta creek, from where the name of the entire fossil deposit comes from, where it coexisted with other sloths such as the nothrotheriid '' Huilabradys'' and the mylodontid '' Magdalenabradys''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5643767 Prehistoric sloths Prehistoric placental genera Miocene mammals of South America Miocene xenarthrans Laventan Neogene Colombia Fossils of Colombia Honda Group, Colombia Fossil taxa described in 2000