Temporal range: Pliocene-Late Pleistocene (Blancan-Rancholabrean) ~4.9–0.012 Ma
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Skeleton at the La Brea Tar Pits Museum
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Pilosa
Family:
†Mylodontidae
Subfamily:
†Mylodontinae
Tribe:
†Mylodontini
Genus:
†Paramylodon Brown, 1903
Type species
†Paramylodon harlani
(Owen, 1840)
Paramylodon is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Mylodontidae endemic to North America during the Pliocene through Pleistocene epochs, living from around ~4.9 Mya–12,000 years ago.
Within the genus only two species are recognized: Paramylodon harlani, also known as Harlan's ground sloth known from Early Pleistocene to the Late Pleistocene (Irvingtonian-Rancholabrean) and the earlier Pliocene-Early Pleistocene (Blancan) species Paramylodon garbanii, though the placement of the latter in the genus has been questioned by some authors. The first fossil findings date back to the beginning of the 1830s. They go back to Richard Harlan, in whose honor the species was named. The genus Paramylodon was introduced by Barnum Brown in the early 20th century. Over 150 years after the description of the first species, the finds that are now attributed to Paramylodon were repeatedly placed in with other genera, first with Mylodon, but since the 1950s increasingly with Glossotherium. Paramylodon shares numerous features that suggest a close relationship with Glossotherium. Only since the 1990s have both genera been considered distinct, with Glossotherium restricted to South America, while Paramylodon inhabited North America.
The species Paramylodon harlani is known from remains found across North America, with abundant remains known from the La Brea tar pits in California.
Like some other mylodontids, Paramylodon had osteoderms embedded within its skin. Paramylodon lived in open landscapes, sometimes also in mountainous locations, and were grazers or mixed feeders. Preserved footprints are known. The morphology of the forelimbs has led to suggestions that Paramylodon may have engaged in burrowing.
Like other ground sloths, Paramylodon became extinct around 14-12,000 years ago as part of the Late Pleistocene megafauna extinctions of most large mammals across the Americas. Paramylodon overlapped in time with Paleoindians, the earliest human inhabitants of the Americas, who may have hunted Paramylodon. Its extinction may be the result of climatic change, hunting, or a combination of both factors.
Paramylodon is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Mylodontidae endemic to North America during the Pliocene through Pleistocene epochs, living...
Mylodon had about the size of related forms such as Glossotherium or Paramylodon, but was significantly smaller than the giant Lestodon. In terms of physique...
show a group of humans chasing or harassing three Nothrotheriops or Paramylodon ground sloths may record the scene of a hunt. The tracks are interpreted...
though osteoderms were only present in a handful of genera (Mylodon, Paramylodon and Glossotherium) and absent in others. The following sloth family phylogenetic...
one of the best-known members of the family, along with Mylodon and Paramylodon. Reconstructed animals were between 3 and 4 metres (9.8 and 13.1 ft)...
wolves, short-faced bears, American lions, ground sloths (predominantly Paramylodon harlani, with much rarer Megalonyx jeffersonii and Nothrotheriops shastensis)...
butchery, suggesting that hunting may have played a role in its extinction. Paramylodon a mylodontid ground sloth native to North America during the Pliocene...
western horse (Equus occidentalis), and the "grazing" ground sloth (Paramylodon harlani) native to North American grasslands. The Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus...
megafauna, including ground sloths (likely either Nothrotheriops or Paramylodon) and Columbian mammoths, which appear to be contemporaneous to human...
have been identified as horse (Equus), bison (Bison), ground sloth (Paramylodon), and mammoth (Mammuthus) or mastodon (Mammut). The Sand Ridge area has...
Lestodontinae, whose type genus is Lestodon, which sometimes also includes Paramylodon and Glossotherium (sometimes also listed as belonging to the tribes Mylodontini...
Common name Scientific name Range Comments Pictures Harlan's ground sloth Paramylodon harlani Mexico, Southern and Western United States Most recent remains...
species was renamed Mylodon harlani to honor Harlan, and is now known as Paramylodon harlani. By the mid-19th century most of the fossils had been removed...
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