Valgipes

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Valgipes
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene (Lujanian)
~0.126–0.010  Ma
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Valgipes bucklandi skull dorsal view.png
Skull of Valgipes bucklandi in dorsal view
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Pilosa
Family: Scelidotheriidae
Genus: Valgipes
Gervais 1874
Species:
V. bucklandi
Binomial name
Valgipes bucklandi
Lund 1846
Synonyms
  • Myrmecophaga giganteaLund 1839
  • Platyonyx bucklandiLund 1840
  • Valgipes deformisGervais 1874
  • Catonyx giganteusWinge 1915

Valgipes is an extinct genus of scelidotheriid ground sloth, endemic to intertropical Brazil and Uruguay during the Late Pleistocene. Thought to have been a forest-dwelling browser, [1] Valgipes is a monotypic genus with a complex and long taxonomic history, and is a close relative of Catonyx and Proscelidodon . [2]

Contents

Taxonomy

The taxonomic history of Scelidotheriidae in Brazil is convoluted, and only one species of Valgipes, V. bucklandi, is recognised today, named in honour of William Buckland. Based on the remains of 23 individuals discovered in Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais, in 1846 Peter Wilhelm Lund described two Brazilian scelidotheriids, Scelidotherium owenii and Scelidotherium bucklandi, while Winge (1915) named them as Scelidotherium magnum and Catonyx giganteus. In 1874, Paul Gervais erected the genus Valgipes for a different species, V. deformis, which he based on a calcaneum bone which he classified as scelidotheriid. Based on comparison of the heel bone with that of Megalonyx , in 1954 Robert Hoffstetter considered that the calcaneum came from an unusual member of the family Megalonychidae, a convention followed by later palaeontologists (although the species was declared incertae sedis in 1979) until the material was studied in further detail, leading to V. deformis and S. bucklandi being combined as Valgipes bucklandi by Cartelle et al. (2009). The only other valid scelidotheriid known from Brazil is Catonyx cuvieri. [2] [3] Valgipes is differentiated from Catonyx based on dentition and postcranial morphology. [2]

Below is a phylogenetic tree of the Scelidotheriinae, based on the work of Nieto et al. 2021, showing the position of Valgipes. [4]

Scelidotheriinae  

Sibyllotherium guenguelianum

Neonematherium flabellatum

Scelidotherium

Proscelidodon gracillimus

Proscelidodon patrius

Proscelidodon rothi

Valgipes bucklandi

Catonyx cuvieri

Catonyx tarijensis

Catonyx chiliense

Description

It is similar in size and morphology to Catonyx , with longer and more gracile limb bones, and a wider skull. [2] A number of adult skulls have sagittal crests, while others do not, suggesting possible sexual dimorphism. [5] The claws are narrow and curve gently towards the palm, with the largest claw being on the third digit. Like some other members of the families Mylodontidae and Scelidotheriidae, it had bony osteoderms embedded in its skin. [2]

Paleobiology

Permineralization in vertebra from Valgipes bucklandi Permineralization in vertebra from Valgipes bucklandi.tif
Permineralization in vertebra from Valgipes bucklandi

During the Late Pleistocene, the habitat type of the regions inhabited by Valgipes is thought to have been mainly tropical dry forest. Isotopic analysis of a specimen from Rio Grande do Norte indicates it was a browsing animal which lived in relatively closed environments, including the Atlantic Forest, and had a varied diet of leaves, shoots, roots, and fruits. [1] In 2021, fossils attributed to V. bucklandi were described from southern Uruguay, in the cooler pampean region, around two thousand kilometres south of all other records. [6]

Distribution

Fossils of V. bucklandi have been found in:

Pleistocene

Paleoecology

In the Brazilian Intertropical Region in eastern Brazil, Valgipes was a browser in arboreal savannahs and forested grasslands. Large, mesoherbivorous mammals in the BIR were widespread and diverse, including the cow-like toxodontids Toxodon platensis and Piauhytherium , the macraucheniid litoptern Xenorhinotherium and equids such as Hippidion principale and Equus neogaeus. Toxodontids were large mixed feeders as well and lived in forested areas, while the equids were nearly entirely grazers. Other xenarthran fossils are present in the area as well from several different families, like the giant megatheriid ground sloth Eremotherium, the fellow scelidotheriid Catonyx , the mylodontids Glossotherium , Ocnotherium , and Mylodonopsis . Smaller ground sloths such as the megalonychids Ahytherium and Australonyx and the nothrotheriid Nothrotherium have also been found in the area. Eremotherium was a generalist, while Nothrotherium was a specialist for trees in low density forests, and Valgipes was an intermediate of the two that lived in arboreal savannahs. Other glyptodonts and cingulates like the grazing glyptodonts Glyptotherium and Panochthus and the omnivorous pampatheres Pampatherium and Holmesina were present in the open grasslands. A proboscidean species has also been found in the BIR, Notiomastodon platensis, which was also present and was a mixed grazer on the open grasslands. Carnivores included some of the largest known mammalian land carnivores, like the giant felid Smilodon populator and the bear Arctotherium wingei. [10] [11] Several extant taxa are also known from the BIR, like guanacos, giant anteaters, collared peccaries, and striped hog-nosed skunks. [12] Two crab-eating types of extant mammals are also known from the BIR, the crab-eating raccoon and the crab-eating fox, indicating that crabs were also present in the region. [12] The environment of the BIR is unclear, as there were both several species that were grazers, but the precede of the arboreal fossil monkeys Protopithecus and Caipora in the area causes confusion over the area’s paleoenvironment. Most of Brazil was thought to have been covered in open tropical cerrado vegetation during the Late Pleistocene, but if Protopithecus and Caipora were arboreal, their presence suggests that the region may have supported a dense closed forest during the Late Pleistocene. [12] [13] It is possible that the region alternated between dry open savannah and closed wet forest throughout the climate change of the Late Pleistocene. [14]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mylodontidae</span> Extinct family of ground sloths

Mylodontidae is a family of extinct South American and North American ground sloths within the suborder Folivora of order Pilosa, living from around 23 million years ago (Mya) to 11,000 years ago. This family is most closely related to another family of extinct ground sloths, Scelidotheriidae, as well as to the extant arboreal two-toed sloths, family Choloepodidae; together these make up the superfamily Mylodontoidea. Phylogenetic analyses based on morphology uncovered the relationship between Mylodontidae and Scelidotheriidae; in fact, the latter was for a time considered a subfamily of mylodontids. However, molecular sequence comparisons were needed for the correct placement of Choloepodidae. These studies have been carried out using mitochondrial DNA sequences as well as with collagen amino acid sequences. The latter results indicate that Choloepodidae is closer to Mylodontidae than Scelidotheriidae is. The only other living sloth family, Bradypodidae, belongs to a different sloth radiation, Megatherioidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scelidotheriidae</span> Extinct family of prehistoric ground sloths

Scelidotheriidae is a family of extinct ground sloths within the order Pilosa, suborder Folivora and superfamily Mylodontoidea, related to the other extinct mylodontoid family, Mylodontidae, as well as to the living two-toed sloth family Choloepodidae. The only other extant family of the suborder Folivora is the distantly related Bradypodidae. Erected as the family Scelidotheriidae by Ameghino in 1889, the taxon was demoted to a subfamily of Mylodontidae by Gaudin in 1995. However, recent collagen sequence data indicates the group is less closely related to Mylodon and Lestodon than Choloepus is, and thus it has been elevated back to full family status by Presslee et al. (2019).

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Glyptotherium is a genus of glyptodont in the family Chlamyphoridae that lived from the Early Pliocene, about 3.6 million years ago, to the Late Pleistocene, around 15,000 years ago. It had a wide distribution, living in the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Venezuela, and Brazil. The genus was first described in 1903 by American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn with the type species being, G. texanum, based on fossils that had been found in the Pliocene Blancan Beds in Llano Estacado, Texas, USA. Glyptotherium fossils have since been unearthed from many more fossil sites, from Florida to Colombia. Another species, G. cylindricum, was named in 1912 by fossil hunter Barnum Brown on the basis of a partial skeleton that had been unearthed from the Pleistocene deposits in Jalisco, Mexico. The two species differ in several aspects, including age, with G. texanum being from the older Early Pliocene to Early Pleistocene strata, whereas G. cylindricum is exclusive to the Late Pleistocene.

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<i>Eremotherium</i> Extinct genus of giant ground sloth

Eremotherium is an extinct genus of giant ground sloth in the family Megatheriidae. Eremotherium lived in the southern North America, Central America, and northern South America from the Pliocene, around 5.3 million years ago, to the end of the Late Pleistocene, around 10,000 years ago. Eremotherium was widespread in tropical and subtropical lowlands and lived there in partly open and closed landscapes, while its close relative Megatherium lived in more temperate climes of South America. Both genera reached the size of today's elephants and were among the largest mammals in the Americas. Characteristic of Eremotherium was its robust physique with comparatively long limbs and front and hind feet especially for later representatives- three fingers. However, the skull is relatively gracile, the teeth are uniform and high-crowned. Like today's sloths, Eremotherium was purely herbivorous and was probably a mixed feeder that dined on leaves and grasses. Eremotherium was a generalist that could adapt its diet to the respective local and climatic conditions of many regions. Finds of Eremotherium are common and widespread, with fossils being found as far north as South Carolina in the United States and as far south as Rio Grande Do Sul, and many complete skeletons have been unearthed.

<i>Catonyx</i> Extinct genus of ground sloths

Catonyx is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Scelidotheriidae, endemic to South America during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. It lived from 2.5 Ma to about 10,000 years ago, existing for approximately 2.49 million years. The most recent date obtained is about 9600 B.P.

<i>Scelidodon</i> Extinct genus of ground sloths

Scelidodon is an extinct genus of South American ground sloths. Its remains have been found in the Yupoí and Uspara Formations of Argentina, the Ulloma, Umala, Ñuapua and Tarija Formations of Bolivia, in Brazil, in Chile and in Peru. The youngest fossils have been dated to as recently as 9000 B.P.

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Neonematherium is an extinct genus of scelidotheriid ground sloths that lived in Argentina, Chile, and Colombia during the Early to Late Miocene. Fossils have been found in the Honda Group of Colombia, and the Río Frías Formation of Chile.

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Cartelle, Castor; et al. (2009). "Systematic revision of intertropical Scelidotheriinae (Xenarthra, Mylodontidae)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29 (5): 555–566. doi:10.1671/039.029.0231. S2CID   83672203.
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  6. 1 2 Lobato, Carolina; et al. (2021). "Presence of the ground sloth Valgipes bucklandi (Xenarthra, Folivora, Scelidotheriinae) in southern Uruguay during the Late Pleistocene: Ecological and biogeographical implications". Quaternary International. 601: 104–115. Bibcode:2021QuInt.601..104L. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2021.06.011.
  7. de Sousa DV, Eltink E, Oliveira RA, Félix JF, Guimarães LM (December 2020). "Diagenetic processes in Quaternary fossil bones from tropical limestone caves". Scientific Reports. 10 (1): 21425. Bibcode:2020NatSR..1021425D. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-78482-0. PMC   7722736 . PMID   33293631.
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  9. Valgipes at Fossilworks.org
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  11. Omena, Érica Cavalcante; Silva, Jorge Luiz Lopes da; Sial, Alcides Nóbrega; Cherkinsky, Alexander; Dantas, Mário André Trindade (2021-10-03). "Late Pleistocene meso-megaherbivores from Brazilian Intertropical Region: isotopic diet (δ13C), niche differentiation, guilds and paleoenvironmental reconstruction (δ13C, δ18O)". Historical Biology. 33 (10): 2299–2304. Bibcode:2021HBio...33.2299O. doi:10.1080/08912963.2020.1789977. ISSN   0891-2963. S2CID   225543776.
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