Oreomylodon

Oreomylodon Temporal range: Late Pleistocene ~0.129–0.011  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Skull of Oreomylodon
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Pilosa
Family:	† Mylodontidae
Subfamily:	† Mylodontinae
Genus:	† Oreomylodon Hoffstetter 1949
Species
O. wegneriSpillmann 1931

Oreomylodon is an extinct genus of ground sloth in the family Mylodontidae, endemic to Ecuador during the Pleistocene. The only species, O. wegneri, was long considered to be either a species or subgenus ^[1] of Glossotherium (as G. wegneri) or a junior synonym of Glossotherium robustum, but studies of its cranial anatomy published in 2019 have supported Oreomylodon as a valid genus, and suggested it is more closely related to Paramylodon . ^[2] However, a subsequent analysis published in 2020 again sunk Oreomylodon wegneri into Glossotherium, as a distinct species. ^[3]

Palaeoecology

O. wegneri shows adaptations to living in a high-altitude habitat, and its fossils have frequently been unearthed in the Interandean Valles of Ecuador, at elevations of between 2,450 and 3,100 meters. This is in contrast to the closely related Glossotherium tropicorum, which was restricted to coastal lowland environments, suggesting substantial ecological differences between the two. ^[4]

References

1. Martin, Paul S.; Klein, Richard G. (1989). Quaternary Extinctions: A Prehistoric Revolution. University of Arizona Press. p. 54. ISBN   9780816511006.
2. Román-Carrión, José Luis; Brambilla, Luciano (2019). "Comparative skull osteology of Oreomylodon wegneri (Xenarthra, Mylodontinae): defining the taxonomic status of the Ecuadorian endemic ground sloth". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 39 (4). doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1674860. S2CID   209439994.
3. De Iuliis, Gerardo; Boscaini, Alberto; Pujos, François; Mcafee, Robert K.; Cartelle, Cástor; Tsuji, Leonard J. S.; Rook, Lorenzo (28 December 2020). "On the status of the giant mylodontine sloth Glossotherium wegneri (Spillmann, 1931) (Xenarthra, Folivora)from the late Pleistocene of Ecuador". Comptes Rendus Palevol . 19 (12): 215–232. doi: 10.5852/cr-palevol2020v19a12 . hdl: 2158/1222861 . ISSN   1777-571X.
4. De Iuliis, Gerardo; Cartelle, Cástor; McDonald, H. Gregory; Pujos, François (26 September 2017). O'Regan, Hannah (ed.). "The mylodontine ground sloth Glossotherium tropicorum from the late Pleistocene of Ecuador and Peru". Papers in Palaeontology . 3 (4): 613–636. doi:10.1002/spp2.1088. ISSN   2056-2799 . Retrieved 15 September 2025– via Wiley Online Library.