Orophodon

Orophodon
Temporal range: Late Oligocene (Deseadan)
~28.0–23.0 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Pilosa
Suborder: Folivora
Family: †Mylodontidae
Genus: †Orophodon
Ameghino, 1894
Species:
†O. hapaloides
Binomial name
†Orophodon hapaloides
Ameghino, 1894
Tooth of an Orophodon

Orophodon is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Mylodontidae, endemic to Argentina, South America.

Taxonomy

Orophodon was named by Florentino Ameghino in 1894. It was assigned to Mylodontidae by Carroll in 1988.

Palaeoecology

O. hapaloides was a generalist herbivore able to feed on a wide variety of different plants.

Orophodon lived with various Notoungulata, Sparassodonta, rodents, birds, etc. It is thought that O. hapaloides was preyed on by some species of Sebecidae and Phorusrhacidae like Dynamopterus.

References

  1. ↑ PaleoBiology Database: Orophodon, basic info
  2. ↑ R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York 1-698
  3. ↑ T. J. Gaudin. 1995. The ear region of edentates and the phylogeny of Tardigrada (Mammalia, Xenarthra). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 15(3):672-705
  4. ↑ Kalthoff, Daniela C.; Green, Jeremy L. (28 July 2017). "Feeding Ecology in Oligocene Mylodontoid Sloths (Mammalia, Xenarthra) as Revealed by Orthodentine Microwear Analysis". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 25 (4): 551–564. doi:10.1007/s10914-017-9405-x. ISSN 1064-7554. PMC 6209052. PMID 30443148. Retrieved 22 November 2024 – via Springer Link.

Further reading