Eremotherium


Eremotherium is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Megatheriidae, endemic to northern South America, Central America, and parts of southern North America during the Pleistocene epoch. It lived from 4.9 mya —11,000 years ago existing for approximately. Several species of Eremotherium were among the largest known ground sloths, rivalling Megatherium americanum in size, with E. rusconi reaching a length up to 6 m and a weight of more than 3 tonnes. Eremotherium arrived in North America during the Late Pliocene or earliest Pleistocene during the Great American Interchange, with remains of E. eomigrans in Florida dating to the late Blancan, around 2.2 to 1.9 Ma.

Taxonomy

Eremotherium was named by Austrian paleontologist and was assigned to Megatheriinae by Gaudin ; and to Megatheriidae by Franz Spillmann, Carroll and Cisneros.

Fossil distribution

Fossils have been uncovered from Volusia County, Florida, Chatham County, Georgia; Berkeley County, South Carolina; Espirito Santo; and Pedra Preta, Brazil; Tarapoto, Peru ; Rio Canas, Ecuador.

Species

''E. eomigrans''

E. eomigrans was named by De Iulis and Cartelle. E. eomigrans was assumed to have been restricted to Florida, as most fossil specimens have been recovered from that area. However, in 1993, another specimen was recovered in North Carolina. It lived from 4.9 mya—300,000 years ago. It is distinguished from E. laurillardi by its slightly more gracile postcrania, and its complete 5 digits on the forelimb, compared to 3 on E. laurillardi.
E. laurillardi, sometimes called the Panamerican ground sloth, was named by Lund. It was previously considered a nomen dubium by Hoffstetter, Gazin and Paula Couto ; it was recombined as Eremotherium laurillardi by Hoffstetter, Cartelle and Bohorquez, Cartelle and De Iuliis and Hulbert and Pratt. Fossil distribution was from the southern U.S. to Brazil. It lived from 780,000—11,000 years ago.
Fossil distribution