The mylodontine ground sloth Glossotherium tropicorum from the late Pleistocene of Ecuador and Peru

MCDONALD, H. G.; CARTELLE, C.; PUJOS, F.; DE IULIIS, G.

SPECIAL PAPERS IN PALAEONTOLOGY SERIES

PALAEONTOLOGICAL ASSOC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2017 vol. 3 p. 613 - 636

0038-6804

Glossotherium tropicorum is similar in size to Glossotherium robustum and Glossotheriumwegneri but differs in several respects from these species, such as having a more elongatedand slender skull and in this respect, more closely resembles Paramylodon harlani in NorthAmerica, which is also similar in size. Glossotherium tropicorum is one of two mylodontinesloths in northwestern South America in the late Pleistocene, the other being Glossotherium(Oreomylodon) wegneri. While both are present in this region their individual distributionsdid not overlap and the two species have not been recovered together in a fauna. Thedistribution of Glossotherium tropicorum is restricted to the lowland coastal areas whereasGlossotherium wegneri is found inland and in the highland areas of the Andes, suggestingsignificant differences in their ecology.