A review of the Quaternary Scelidotheriinae (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Tardigrada) from the Tarija-Padcaya basin, Bolivia

The Mylodontidae Scelidotheriinae (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Tardigrada) are a diversified clade of South American fossil ground sloths, with a wide geographic distribution, especially in high and middle latitudes. According to the last revision, the Quaternary diversity includes the genera Scelidotheriu...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Miño Boilini, Ángel Ramón, Carlini, Alfredo Armando, Zurita, Alfredo Eduardo, Soibelzon, Esteban, Rodriguez Bualó, Santiago Martín
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2018
Country:Argentina
Institution:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repository:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/91288
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/91288
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:CATONYX
DIVERSITY
PILOSA
PLEISTOCENE
SOUTH AMERICA
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Description
Summary:The Mylodontidae Scelidotheriinae (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Tardigrada) are a diversified clade of South American fossil ground sloths, with a wide geographic distribution, especially in high and middle latitudes. According to the last revision, the Quaternary diversity includes the genera Scelidotherium, Catonyx, and Valgipes. The clade Scelidotheriinae is well represented in the Pleistocene of the Tarija-Padcaya basin, and the first mention of these ground sloths correspond to the middle of the XIX Century. Since then, several species (i.e., Scelidotherium tarijensis, Scelidodon tarijensis, Scelidotherium capellini) have been reported as inhabiting the Tarija-Padcaya basin during the Pleistocene. Despite the abundance of fossil records of Scelidotheriinae in this area, no modern taxonomic revisions are available. In consequence, in this contribution a revision of the remains assigned to Scelidotheriinae from the Tarija-Padcaya basin is accomplished, and some biostratigraphic and geographic implications are discussed. Our results show that one single species (Catonyx tarijensis) can be recognized in the studied area, whereas a supposed smaller one (Scelidotherium patrium) actually corresponds to juvenile specimens of C. tarijensis.