Nothropus

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Nothropus
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene - Early Holocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Superorder: Xenarthra
Order: Pilosa
Family: Nothrotheriidae
Genus: Nothropus
Burmeister (1882)

Nothropus is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Nothrotheriidae, endemic to South America during the Pleistocene epoch. It lived from 1.8 mya—78,000 years ago existing for approximately 1.722 million years.[1]

Taxonomy

Nothropus was named by Burmeister (1882). It was assigned to Megalonychidae by Marshall and Sempere (1991)[2] and to Nothrotheriidae by Muizon et al. (2004).[3]

Fossil distribution

Fossils have been uncovered from Tarija, Tarija, Bolivia, east side of the Andes Mountains.[4]

References

  1. PaleoBiology Database: Nothropus, basic info
  2. L. G. Marshall and T. Sempere. 1991. The Eocene to Pleistocene vertebrates of Bolivia and their stratigraphic context: a review. Fósiles y Facies de Bolivia - Vol. 1 Vertebrados (Revista Ténica de YPFB) 12(3-4):631-652
  3. Muizon, C. de; McDonald, H. G.; Salas, R.; Urbina, M. (June 2004). "The Youngest Species of the Aquatic Sloth Thalassocnus and a Reassessment of the Relationships of the Nothrothere Sloths (Mammalia: Xenarthra)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (Society of Vertebrate Paleontology) 24 (2): 387–397. doi:10.1671/2429a. Retrieved 2009-01-29. 
  4. Paleobiology Database: Nothropus, collections.
  • Classification of Mammals by Malcolm C. McKenna and Susan K. Bell
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