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Eremotherium laurillardi Lund, 1842

Laurillard's ground sloth

 

 

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

 

 

Conservation Status

Extinct

Last record: Late Pleistocene

 

Distribution

The Americas (from southern USA to Brazil)

 

Biology & Ecology

It was a strictly terrestrial species (Santos et al., 2023).

 

Hypodigm

MCL 1700/02
MCL 1701/02
MCL 1702/02
MCL 7225
MCL 7229
MCL 7231
MCL 7233
MNRJ 2225
MNRJ 3858
MNP 44
MNP 46
USNM 18498
USNM 20867
ILSB s/n
AMNH 95742
F:AM s/n
ROM 40324

Source for the above is (Bargo et al. 2006).

 

Media

 

 

References

Original scientific description:

Lund, P. W. (1842). Blik paa Brasiliens Dyreverden for Sidste Jordomvaeltning. Fjerde Afhandling: Fortsaettelse af Pattedyrene. Detkongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter Naturvidenskabelige og Mathematisk Afhandlinger 9: 137-208.

 

Other references:

Andrade, Luana C. et al. (2021). Revealing bone diseases in the Quaternary ground sloth Eremotherium laurillardi (Mammalia, Xenarthra). Historical Biology 33(9): 1422-1430. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2019.1700977

Auler A.S., Piló L.B., Smart P.L., Wang X., Hoffmann D., Richards D.A., Edwards R.L., Neves W.A., Cheng H. 2006 U-series dating and taphonomy of Quaternary vertebrates from Brazilian caves. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 240(3-4), 508-522.

Barbosa, Fernando Henrique de Souza and de Araújo-Júnior, Hermínio Ismael. (2021). Skeletal pathologies in the giant ground sloth Eremotherium laurillardi (Xenarthra, Folivora): New cases from the Late Pleistocene of Brazil. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 110: 103377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103377 [Abstract]

Barbosa, Fernando Henrique de Souza et al. (In Press, 2014). Neck osteoarthritis in Eremotherium laurillardi (Lund, 1842; Mammalia, Xenarthra) from the Late Pleistocene of Brazil. International Journal of Paleopathology. [Abstract]

Barbosa, Fernando Henrique de Souza et al. (2019). Articular and vertebral lesions in the Pleistocene sloths (Xenarthra, Folivora) from the Brazilian Intertropical Region. Historical Biology 31(5): 544-558. [Abstract]

Barbosa, Fernando Henrique de Souza et al. (2022). Spinal fracture reveals an accident episode in Eremotherium laurillardi shedding light on the formation of a fossil assemblage. Scientific Reports 12: 4119. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08107-1

Bargo, M. Susana and De Iuliis, Gerardo. (1999). Hypsodonty and bilophodonty in Megatherium americanum (Xenarthra, Tardigrada): a paradox. In: B. Shockey and F. Anaya (eds.), Abstracts of the Congress Neotropical Evolution of the Cenozoic 11. La Paz.

Bargo, M. Susana, De Iuliis, Gerardo and Vizcaíno, Sergio F. (2006). Hypsodonty in Pleistocene ground sloths. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 51(1): 53–61.

Bravo-Cuevas, Victor Manuel and Jiménez-Hidalgo, Eduardo. (2018). Advances on the Paleobiology of Late Pleistocene mammals from central and southern Mexico, pp. 277-313. In: Huard, Gaeten and Gareau, Jeannine (eds.). The Pleistocene: Geography, Geology, and Fauna. New York: Nova Science Publishers.

Cartelle, C. and De Iuliis, G. (1995). Eremotherium laurillardi: the Panamerican late Pleistocene megatheriid sloth. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 15(4): 830-841. [Abstract]

Cartelle, C. and De Iuliis, G. (2006). Eremotherium laurillardi (Lund) (Xenarthra, Megatheriidae), the Panamerican giant ground sloth: taxonomic aspects of the ontogeny of skull and dentition. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 4:199-209.

Cisneros J.C. 2005 New Pleistocene vertebrate fauna from El Salvador. Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 8(3): 239-255.

da Silva, Juliana de Almeida et al. (2019). Late Pleistocene meso-megamammals from Anagé, Bahia, Brazil: Taxonomy and isotopic paleoecology (δ13C). Journal of South American Earth Sciences 96: 102362. [Abstract]

da Silva, Rodolfo C., Barbosa, Fernando H. de S. and Porpino, Kleberson de O. (2023). New paleopathological findings from the Quaternary of the Brazilian Intertropical Region expand the distribution of joint diseases for the South American megafauna. International Journal of Paleopathology 43: 16-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.08.002

Dantas, Mário A. T. (2022). Estimating the body mass of the Late Pleistocene megafauna from the South America Intertropical Region and a new regression to estimate the body mass of extinct xenarthrans. Journal of South American Earth Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2022.103900

Dantas, Mário A. T., Campbell, Sean Cody and McDonald, H. Gregory. (2023). Paleoecological inferences about the Late Quaternary giant ground sloths from the Americas. Research Square preprint. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2992768/v1

Dantas, Mário André Trindade, Cherkinsky, Alexander, Bocherens, Hervé, Drefahl, Morgana, Bernardes, Camila and França, Lucas de Melo. (2017). Isotopic paleoecology of the Pleistocene megamammals from the Brazilian Intertropical Region: Feeding ecology (δ13C), niche breadth and overlap. Quaternary Science Reviews 170: 152-163. [Abstract]

Dantas, Mário André Trindade, Queiroz, A. and Santos, F. (2012). An anthropogenic modification in an Eremotherium tooth from northeastern Brazil. Quaternary International 253: 107-109.

Dantas, Mário André Trindade and Santos, Adaiana M. A. (2022). Inferring the paleoecology of the Late Pleistocene giant ground sloths from the Brazilian Intertropical Region. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 117: 103899. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2022.103899

Dantas, Mário André Trindade et al. (2014). Dated evidence of the interaction between humans and megafauna in the late Pleistocene of Sergipe state, northeastern Brazil. Quaternary International 352: 197-199. [Abstract]

Dantas, Mário André Trindade et al. (2020). Isotopic paleoecology (δ13C) from mammals from IUIU/BA and paleoenvironmental reconstruction (δ13C, δ18O) for the Brazilian intertropical region through the late Pleistocene. Quaternary Science Reviews 242: 106469. [Abstract]

Dias, Dayana Ellen Miranda et al. (2021). Diagnosis of bone diseases in two representatives of the Pleistocene megafauna of Bahia, Brazil. Historical Biology 33(12): 3224-3227. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2020.1860032

Faith, J.T., Surovell, T.A., 2009. Synchronous extinction of North America's Pleistocene mammals. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 106, 20641e20645.

Faunmap working group. 1994 FAUNMAP: a database documenting late Quaternary distributions of mammal species in the United States. Illinois State Museum Scientific Papers 25(1-2), 1-690.

Ferrusquía-Villafranca I., Arroyo-Cabrales J., Martínez-Hernández E., Gama-Castro J., Ruiz-González J., Polaco O.J., Johnson E. 2010 Pleistocene mammals of Mexico: A critical review of regional chronofaunas, climate change response and biogeographic provinciality. Quaternary International 217(1–2), 53-104.

Ficcarelli, G., Coltorti, M., Moreno-Espinosa, M., Pieruccini, P. L., Rook, L. and Torre, D. (2003). A model for the Holocene extinction of the mammal megafauna in Ecuador. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 15: 835-845.

França, Lucas de Melo et al. (2014). Chronology and ancient feeding ecology of two upper Pleistocene megamammals from the Brazilian Intertropical Region. Quaternary Science Reviews 99(1): 78-83. [Abstract]

Gallo, V. et al. (2013). Distributional patterns of herbivore megamammals during the Late Pleistocene of South America. An. Acad. Bras. Ciênc. 85(2): 533-546.

Ghilardi, Aline Marcele et al. (2011). Megafauna from the Late Pleistocene-Holocene deposits of the Upper Ribeira karst area, southeast Brazil. Quaternary International 245: 369-378.

Holanda E.C., Ferigolo J., Ribeiro A.M. 2011 New Tapirus species (Mammalia: Perissodactyla: Tapiridae) from the upper Pleistocene of Amazonia, Brazil. Journal of Mammalogy 92(1), 111-120.

Larmon, Jean T. (2016). More Than Meets the Eye: Cathodoluminescence Analysis of a Fossil Tooth. Published? [Abstract]

Larmon, Jean T. et al. (2019). A year in the life of a giant ground sloth during the Last Glacial Maximum in Belize. Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aau1200

Lessa, Carlos Micael Bonfim et al. (2021). Isotopic paleoecology (δ13C, δ18O) of two megamammals assemblages from the late pleistocene of Brazilian intertropical region. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 112(1): 103576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103576 [Abstract]

Lindsey, Emily L. and Lopez, R., Eric X. (2015). Tanque Loma, a new late-Pleistocene megafaunal tar seep locality from southwest Ecuador. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 57: 61-82.

Lindsey, Emily L. et al. (In Press, 2020). A monodominant late-Pleistocene megafauna locality from Santa Elena, Ecuador: Insight on the biology and behavior of giant ground sloths. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109599 [Abstract]

Lima-Ribeiro, Matheus Souza et al. (2012). Potential Suitable Areas of Giant Ground Sloths Dropped Before its Extinction in South America: the Evidences from Bioclimatic Envelope Modeling. Natureza & Conservação 10(2): 145-151.

Lindsey, Emily L. et al. (2020). A monodominant late-Pleistocene megafauna locality from Santa Elena,Ecuador: Insight on the biology and behavior of giant ground sloths. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 544: 109599.

Lopes, Renato Pereira et al. (2021a). The Santa Vitória Alloformation: an update on a Pleistocene fossil-rich unit in Southern Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Geology 51(1): e2020065.

Lopes, Renato Pereira, Dillenburg, S. R., Pereira, J. C. and Sial, A. N. (2021b). The paleoecology of Pleistocene giant megatheriid sloths: stable isotopes (δ13C, δ18O) of co-occurring Megatherium and Eremotherium from southern Brazil. Revista Brasileira De Paleontologia 24(3): 245-264. https://doi.org/10.4072/rbp.2021.3.06

Lucas, Spencer G. (2008). Pleistocene mammals from Yeroconte, Honduras, pp. 403-407. In: Lucas, Spencer G. et al. (eds.). Neogene Mammals. New Mexico: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 41.

Lucas, Spencer G. (2014). Late Pleistocene mammals from El Hatillo, Panama. Rev. Geol. Amér. Central 50: 139-151.

Martinelli A.G., Ferraz P.F., Cunha G.C., Cunha I.C., de Souza Carvalho I., Borges Ribeiro L.C., Neto F.M., Cavellani C.L., de Paula Antunes Teixeira V., da Fonseca Ferraz M.L. (2012). First record of Eremotherium laurillardi (Lund, 1842) (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Megatheriidae) in the Quaternary of Uberaba, Triângulo Mineiro (Minas Gerais State), Brazil. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 37(0), 202-207.

McDonald, H. Gregory. (2021). Yukon to the Yucatan: Habitat partitioning in North American Late Pleistocene ground sloths (Xenarthra, Pilosa). Journal of Palaeosciences 70: 237-251.

McDonald, H. Gregory. (2023). A Tale of Two Continents (and a Few Islands): Ecology and Distribution of Late Pleistocene Sloths. Land 12(6): 1192. https://doi.org/10.3390/land12061192

Oliveira, Jacqueline Freitas. (2020). Radiocarbon dating and integrative paleoecology (ẟ13C, stereomicrowear) of Eremotherium laurillardi (LUND, 1842) from midwest region of the Brazilian intertropical region. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 102: 102653. [Abstract]

Omena, Érica Cavalcante et al. (2020). Late Pleistocene meso-megaherbivores from Brazilian Intertropical Region: isotopic diet (δ13C), niche differentiation, guilds and paleoenvironmental reconstruction (δ13C, δ18O). Historical Biology. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2020.1789977

Pansani, Thaís Rabito et al. (2019). Isotopic paleoecology (δ13C, δ18O) of Late Quaternary megafauna from Mato Grosso do Sul and Bahia States, Brazil. Quaternary Science Reviews 221: 105864. [Abstract]

Pereira, Jamil C. et al. (2012). New remains of Late Pleistocene mammals from the Chuí Creek, southern Brazil. Rev. bras. paleontol. 15(2): 228-239.

Russell D.A., Rich F.J., Schneider V., Lynch-Stieglitz J. 2009 A warm thermal enclave in the Late Pleistocene of the South-eastern United States. Biological Reviews 84(2), 173-202.

Sagebiel, J. Chris. (2022). Xenarthrans from the Nueces River fauna, Upper Pleistocene of Nueces County, Texas. In: Morgan, Gary S. et al. Late Cenozoic Vertebrates from the American Southwest: A Tribute to Arthur H. Harris. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 88: 225-231.

Sanders, A. E. (2002). Additions to the Pleistocene Mammal Faunas of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. American Philosophical Society 2002: 1-152.

Santos, Adaiana Marta Andrade, Mcdonald, H. Gregory and Dantas, Mário André Trindade. (2023). Inferences of the ecological habits of extinct giant sloths from the Brazilian Intertropical Region. Journal of Quaternary Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3534

Scherer, Carolina Saldanha, Pales, Letícia Francielle Moreira, da Silva, Mariane Rosa Thomaz and da Silva, Samara de Almeida. (In Press, 2017). Chronological, taphonomical, and paleoenvironmental aspects of a Late Pleistocene mammalian fauna from Guanambi, Bahia, Brazil. Journal of South American Earth Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2017.07.016 [Abstract]

Seymour, Kevin L. (2015). Perusing Talara: Overview of the Late Pleistocene Fossils from the Tar Seeps of Peru, pp. 97-109. In: Harris, John M. (ed.). La Brea and Beyond: The Paleontology of Asphalt-Preserved Biotas. Los Angeles, California: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Science Series No. 42. 174 pp.

Smith F.A., Lyons S.K., Ernest S.K.M., Jones K.E., Kaufman D.M., Dayan T., Marquet P.A., Brown J.H., Haskell J.P. 2003 Body mass of late Quaternary mammals. Ecology 84(12), 3403-3403.

Solórzano, Andrés, Rincón, Ascanio D. and McDonald, H. Gregory. (2015). A New Mammal Assemblage from the Late Pleistocene El Breal de Orocual, Northeast of Venezuela, pp. 125-150. In: Harris, John M. (ed.). La Brea and Beyond: The Paleontology of Asphalt-Preserved Biotas. Los Angeles, California: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Science Series No. 42. 174 pp.

Than-Marchese, Bruno Andrés et al. (year?). Una nueva localidad con restos de Eremotherium laurillardi (Xenarthra: Megateriidae) en Chiapas, México: posible evidencia de gregarismo en la especie. [Abstract]

Toledo, Néstor, De Iuliis, Gerardo, Vizcaíno, Sergio F. and Bargo, M. Susana. (2017). The Concept of a Pedolateral Pes Revisited: The Giant Sloths [i]Megatherium[/i] and [i]Eremotherium[/i] (Xenarthra, Folivora, Megatheriinae) as a Case Study. Journal of Mammalian Evolution. [Abstract]

Varela, Luciano, Tambusso, P. Sebastián, Patiño, Santiago J., Di Giacomo, Mariana and Fariña, Richard A. (2017). Potential Distribution of Fossil Xenarthrans in South America during the Late Pleistocene: co-Occurrence and Provincialism. Journal of Mammalian Evolution. [Abstract]

http://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/424/eremotherium-laurillardi

 

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