Scelidotheriidae is a family of extinct

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. ...

s within the order

Pilosa The Order (biology), order Pilosa is a clade of xenarthran placental mammals, native to the Americas. It includes anteaters and sloths (which include the extinct ground sloths). The name comes from the Latin word for "hairy". Origins and taxon ...

, suborder

Folivora Sloths are a Neotropical realm, Neotropical group of xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant Arboreal locomotion, arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of move ...

and superfamily Mylodontoidea, related to the other extinct mylodontoid 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 ...

, as well as to the living

two-toed sloth ''Choloepus'' is a genus of xenarthran mammals from Central and South America within the monotypic family Choloepodidae, consisting of two-toed sloths, sometimes also called two-fingered sloths. The two species of ''Choloepus'' (which means "la ...

family Choloepodidae. The only other extant family of the suborder Folivora is the distantly related Bradypodidae. Erected as the family Scelidotheriidae by Ameghino in 1889, the taxon was demoted to a subfamily of Mylodontidae by Gaudin in 1995. However, recent collagen sequence data indicates the group is less closely related to ''

Mylodon ''Mylodon'' is an extinct genus of ground sloth belonging to the family Mylodontidae, known from southern South America. With a total length of 3 to 4 m and a body mass of 1-2 tonnes, it is one of the largest mylodontids (though it was considerab ...

'' and '' Lestodon'' than '' Choloepus'' is, and thus it has been elevated back to full family status by Presslee ''et al.'' (2019).

Taxonomy

Together with Mylodontidae, and the two-toed sloths, the scelidotheriids form the superfamily Mylodontoidea. ''

Chubutherium ''Chubutherium'' is an extinct genus of ground sloth from the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene of Chubut Province, Argentina. Description This species of ground sloth was assigned to the family Scelidotheriidae, which was subsequently demoted ...

'' is an ancestral and very

plesiomorph In phylogenetics, a plesiomorphy ("near form") and symplesiomorphy are synonyms for an ancestral Phenotypic trait, character shared by all members of a clade, which does not distinguish the clade from other clades. Plesiomorphy, symplesiomorph ...

ic member of this family and does not belong to the main group of closely related genera.

Phylogeny

Below is a more detailed cladogram of the Scelidotheriidae, based on the work of Nieto ''et al.'' 2020.

References

External links

Sloth World: An Online Sloth Bibliography

* ttp://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/sloth.htm Have some ground sloths survived in Argentina?
Ground sloths in general

Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology
Hemet, CA {{Taxonbar, from=Q7430688 Prehistoric sloths Prehistoric mammal families Chattian first appearances Holocene extinctions Taxa named by Florentino Ameghino Taxa described in 1889

Taxonomy

Phylogeny

References

Further reading

External links