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 family of extinct ground sloths, Scelidotheriidae, as well as to the extant arboreal two-toed sloths, family Choloepodidae; together these make up the superfamily Mylodontoidea. Phylogenetic analyses based on morphology uncovered the relationship between Mylodontidae and Scelidotheriidae; in fact, the latter was for a time considered a subfamily of mylodontids. However, molecular sequence comparisons were needed for the correct placement of Choloepodidae. These studies have been carried out using mitochondrial DNA sequences as well as with collagen amino acid sequences. The latter results indicate that Choloepodidae is closer to Mylodontidae than Scelidotheriidae is. The only other living sloth family, Bradypodidae, belongs to a different sloth radiation, Megatherioidea.

Mylodontidae

Skb8721 at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
EufolivoraPBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 27 million years on record.

The record covers at least 27.3 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 0 of 756 occurrencesOligocene — about 8 of 756 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 198 of 756 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 76 of 756 occurrencesPleistocene — about 471 of 756 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 1 occurrence28–27 Mya — about 1 occurrence27–25 Mya — about 2 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 2 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 2 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 2 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 4 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 13 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 3 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 3 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 36 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 37 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 23 occurrences10–9.2 Mya — about 7 occurrences9.2–8.1 Mya — about 9 occurrences8.1–6.9 Mya — about 23 occurrences6.9–5.8 Mya — about 26 occurrences5.8–4.6 Mya — about 25 occurrences4.6–3.5 Mya — about 34 occurrences3.5–2.3 Mya — about 43 occurrences2.3–1.2 Mya — about 96 occurrences1.2–0 Mya — about 360 occurrences27.3 Mya11.7 ka34.6 Mya0 Mya

756 occurrences of Mylodontidae on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

756 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

120 formations

Villavieja — 3.32°N, 75.13°WVillavieja — 3.22°N, 75.22°WVillavieja — 3.78°N, 75.18°WVillavieja — 3.26°N, 75.19°WVillavieja — 3.21°N, 75.26°WVillavieja — 3.23°N, 75.14°WLa Victoria — 3.27°N, 75.19°WLa Victoria — 3.30°N, 75.13°WLa Victoria — 3.37°N, 75.15°WLa Victoria — 3.23°N, 75.11°WLa Victoria — 3.36°N, 75.16°WLa Victoria — 3.22°N, 75.22°WCerro Azul — 35.69°S, 64.67°WCerro Azul — 36.25°S, 65.51°WCerro Azul — 37.22°S, 63.59°WCerro Azul — 36.00°S, 65.00°WCerro Azul — 37.13°S, 62.81°WCerro Azul — 36.70°S, 64.28°WCerro Azul — 35.92°S, 64.87°WCerro Azul — 37.73°S, 63.53°WCerro Azul — 36.84°S, 65.28°WCerro Azul — 36.68°S, 64.18°WCerro Azul — 37.02°S, 64.51°WLujan — 36.78°S, 59.87°WLujan — 38.57°S, 58.70°WLujan — 34.60°S, 59.15°WLujan — 38.75°S, 60.60°WLujan — 34.64°S, 59.30°WSanta Cruz — 51.18°S, 69.08°WSanta Cruz — 50.85°S, 69.13°WSanta Cruz — 51.60°S, 69.56°WSanta Cruz — 50.28°S, 70.28°WSanta Cruz — 50.16°S, 69.67°WSanta Cruz — 50.27°S, 70.37°WSanta Cruz — 50.35°S, 68.95°WDolores — 34.42°S, 56.26°WDolores — 34.27°S, 55.99°WDolores — 34.38°S, 57.88°WDolores — 33.91°S, 58.37°WDolores — 34.44°S, 57.20°WItuzaingo — 31.48°S, 60.23°WTarija — 21.53°S, 64.73°WTarija — 21.50°S, 64.75°WSalto Ander Egg — 32.12°S, 60.43°WSalto Ander Egg — 32.07°S, 60.55°WSalto Ander Egg — 32.28°S, 60.37°WSalto Ander Egg — 31.03°S, 60.50°WTouro Passo — 30.40°S, 56.49°WTouro Passo — 29.67°S, 56.83°WTouro Passo — 30.75°S, 53.75°WTouro Passo — 29.67°S, 56.87°WMonte Hermoso — 38.97°S, 61.70°WMonte Hermoso — 38.98°S, 61.82°WChapadmalal — 38.12°S, 57.70°WChapadmalal — 38.12°S, 57.59°WChapadmalal — 38.10°S, 57.55°WChapadmalal — 38.27°S, 57.84°WChapadmalal — 38.16°S, 57.62°WMiramar — 38.17°S, 57.65°WMiramar — 37.98°S, 57.59°WSolimoes — 10.12°S, 66.88°WSolimões — 8.78°S, 68.90°WSolimões — 10.13°S, 67.81°WSolimões — 10.33°S, 67.20°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.08°N, 100.67°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.20°N, 100.70°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.03°N, 100.75°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.10°N, 100.80°WPauba — 33.90°N, 117.00°WUmala — 18.83°S, 66.15°WUmala — 18.35°S, 67.93°WUmala — 18.97°S, 66.15°WUmala — 17.08°S, 68.00°WUrumaco — 11.20°N, 70.25°WUrumaco — 11.18°N, 70.23°WSanta Vitória — 33.74°S, 53.37°WSanta Vitória — 33.53°S, 53.37°WTamiami — 26.90°N, 82.00°WTamiami — 27.37°N, 82.45°WTamiami — 27.30°N, 80.80°WTamiami — 26.50°N, 81.80°WPalm Spring — 32.90°N, 117.10°WTule — 34.50°N, 101.30°WTule — 34.51°N, 101.41°WSopas — 30.43°S, 56.45°WSopas — 31.25°S, 57.00°WSopas — 32.05°S, 56.12°W

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The named rock units Mylodontidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 96 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 367 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Mylodontidae and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Mylodontidae and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

2,339 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 471 sites for Mylodontidae, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

285 references

Each of the 756 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 273 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Mylodontidae

Credit
Skb8721 at English Wikipedia
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Mylodontidae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itEufolivora through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Ameghino 1889