Diabolotherium

Diabolotherium is an extinct genus of sloths, known from the Late Pleistocene of Peru.[1] Unlike most other extinct mainland sloths, it seems to have been a climber, similar to extinct sloths from the Caribbean. Fossils of the genus were found at the coastal Piedra Escrita site and the Andean Casa del Diablo cave.[2]

Diabolotherium
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene (Lujanian)
~0.02–0.011 Ma
↓
Ventral view of the skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Superorder:
Xenarthra
Order:
Pilosa
Superfamily:
Megatheroidea Incertae sedis
Genus:
†Diabolotherium

Pujos et al 2007
Species:
†D. nordenskioldi

Kraglievich, 1926

Etymology

The generic name commemorates the type location, Casa del Diablo Cave.

Taxonomy

The taxon was originally described in 1926 by Kraglievich as a member of the genus Nothropus, when it was redescribed in 2007, it was found to be distinct enough to be placed in the separate genus Diabolotherium and was placed in the family Megalonychidae, however, the type specimen skull was missing its teeth. When teeth were found, it instead was found it within Megatheroidea, a larger grouping which contains Megalonychidae as well as Nothrotheriidae and Megatheriidae, but did not find close clustering with any of the aforementioned groups.[3]

References
  1. "Diabolotherium in the Paleobiology Database". Fossilworks. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  2. Pujos, François; De Iluiis, Gerardo; Argot, Christine; Werdelin, Lars (February 2007). "A peculiar climbing Megalonychidae from the Pleistocene of Peru and its implication for sloth history". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 149 (2): 179–235. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2007.00240.x.
  3. Pujos, François; De Iluiis, Gerardo; Mamani Quispe, Bernardino (September 2011). "Hiskatherium saintandrei, gen. et sp. nov.: an unusual sloth from the Santacrucian of Quebrada Honda (Bolivia) and an overview of middle Miocene, small megatherioids". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (5): 1131–1149. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.599463.


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