Mounted skeleton of M. rodens, AMNH, New York City
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Pilosa
Family:
†Megalocnidae
Genus:
†Megalocnus Leidy, 1868
Type species
†Megalocnus rodens
Leidy, 1868
Megalocnus ("great sloth" in Greek) is a genus of extinct ground sloths that were native to Cuba during the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs. They were among the largest of the Caribbean sloths (Megalocnidae), with individuals estimated to have weighed up to 270 kg (595 lbs)[1] to 200 kg (440 lbs), around the size of a black bear when alive.[2] Its relatives include other megalocnid sloths, such as Acratocnus, Mesocnus, Miocnus, Neocnus andParocnus.[3] The former species M. zile from Hispaniola is currently thought to be a junior synonym of Parocnus serus.[4]
^Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Steadman, D. W., Martin, P. S., MacPhee, R. D., Jull, A. T., McDonald, H. G., Woods, C. A., ... & Hodgins, G. W. (2005). Asynchronous extinction of late Quaternary sloths on continents and islands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102(33), 11763-11768.
^Presslee, S.; Slater, G. J.; Pujos, F.; Forasiepi, A. M.; Fischer, R.; Molloy, K.; Mackie, M.; Olsen, J. V.; Kramarz, A.; Taglioretti, M.; Scaglia, F.; Lezcano, M.; Lanata, J. L.; Southon, J.; Feranec, R.; Bloch, J.; Hajduk, A.; Martin, F. M.; Gismondi, R. S.; Reguero, M.; de Muizon, C.; Greenwood, A.; Chait, B. T.; Penkman, K.; Collins, M.; MacPhee, R.D.E. (2019). "Palaeoproteomics resolves sloth relationships" (PDF). Nature Ecology & Evolution. 3 (7): 1121–1130. Bibcode:2019NatEE...3.1121P. doi:10.1038/s41559-019-0909-z. PMID 31171860. S2CID 174813630.
^McAfee, Robert K.; Beery, Sophia M. (2019-06-04). "Intraspecific variation of Megalonychid sloths from Hispaniola and the taxonomic implications". Historical Biology. 33 (3): 371–386. doi:10.1080/08912963.2019.1618294. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 195403443.
These were the first fossils of Megalocnus outside of Cuba described, and were named in 2000 as a new species, Megalocnus zile. However, the species has...
They displayed significant diversity in body size and lifestyle, with Megalocnus being terrestrial and probably weighing several hundred kilograms, while...
suggests an age of between 2819 and 2660 BCE for the last occurrence of Megalocnus in Cuba. They survived 5,000–6,000 years longer in the Caribbean than...
similar glacial retreats were not associated with similar extinction rates. Megalocnus and some other Caribbean sloths survived until about 5,000 years ago,...
after Megalocnus. After †Parocnus browni Pleistocene to Holocene, Cuba †Parocnus serus Pleistocene to Holocene, Hispaniola (synonym Megalocnus zile) †Parocnus...
or capybara) and the ground sloths Cubanocnus, Miocnus, Mesocnus, and Megalocnus, some of these sloths being roughly the size of a black bear. It was probably...
Parocnus-sized to Megalocnus-sized or larger. Its relationships to other Antillean sloths are not immediately clear, though the genera Megalocnus and Parocnus...
genetic studies, as it includes the Caribbean sloths Neocnus, Parocnus Megalocnus and Arcatocnus which have been placed in the separate family Megalocnidae...
were generally smaller than those found on the South American continent. Megalocnus were the largest genus at up to 90 kilograms (200 lb), Acratocnus were...
by the mid-Holocene.[citation needed] The related Cuban ground sloth, Megalocnus rodens, survived until at least c. 6600 BP, and the latest survival reported...
Continental ground sloths Imagocnus I. zazae Cuba Extinct (Early Miocene) Megalocnus M. rodens M. zile Cuba and Hispaniola Extinct (c. 2700 BC) Neocnus Neocnus...
mongoliensis. A display of various species of ground sloths including Megalocnus rodens, Scelidotherium cuvieri, Megalonyx wheatleyi and Glossotherium...
(here, since based on skeletal features, also Caribbean sloths such as Megalocnus or Neocnus). Currently, however, it is not possible to determine direct...
Megalonyx and Megalocnus. The first molariform is subtrapezoidal in cross-section, while it is subrectangular in Megalonyx and Megalocnus. The m2 and m3...
fauna of Cuba was mainly composed of several ground sloth genera, such as Megalocnus, Acratocnus, and Parocnus. along with large tortoises and rodents. The...
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