Neonematherium

Neonematherium Temporal range: Early Miocene-Late Miocene (Friasian-Chasicoan) ~16.3–7.0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Pilosa
Family:	†Scelidotheriidae
Genus:	†Neonematherium Ameghino 1904
Species:	†N. flabellatum
Binomial name
†Neonematherium flabellatum Ameghino 1904

Neonematherium is an extinct genus of scelidotheriid ground sloths that lived in Argentina,[1] Chile, and Colombia during the Early to Late Miocene. Fossils have been found in the Honda Group of Colombia,[2] and the Río Frías Formation of Chile.[3]

Taxonomy

Neonematherium is a member of the Scelidotheriidae, a family of ground sloths known from the Oligocene, Miocene Pliocene, Pleistocene, and the Early Holocene epochs and are characterized by an elongated snout. Scelidotheres themselves part are usually placed as a subfamily of the Mylodontidae, although they are sometimes considered a separate family, Scelidotheriidae.[4]

Below is a phylogenetic tree of the Scelidotheriidae, based on the work of Nieto et al. 2021, showing the position of Neonematherium.[5]

Scelidotheriinae	Sibyllotherium guenguelianum Neonematherium flabellatum Scelidotherium Proscelidodon gracillimus Proscelidodon patrius Proscelidodon rothi Valgipes bucklandi Catonyx cuvieri Catonyx tarijensis Catonyx chiliense

References

1. Miño-Boilini, A. R.; Tomassini, R. L.; Contreras, V. H. (2014-06-30). "Primer registro de Scelidotheriinae Ameghino (Xenartha, Mylodontidae) del Piso/Edad Chasiquense (Mioceno tardío) de la Argentina". Estudios Geológicos (in Spanish). 70 (1): e007. doi:10.3989/egeol.41551.291. hdl:11336/25673. ISSN 1988-3250.
2. Carlini, A. A., Vizcaíno, S. F. & Scillato-Yané, G. J. 1997. Armored Xenarthrans: a unique taxonomic and ecologic assemblage. In Kay, R. F., Madden, R. H., Cifelli, R. L. & Flynn, J. J. (Edits.). Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics. The Miocene Fauna of La Venta, Colombia. Smithsonian Institution Press. Pp. 213–226.
3. Marshall, Larry G. (1990-01-01). "Fossil marsupialla from the type Friasian Land Mammal Age (Miocene), Alto Rio Cisnes, Aisen, Chile". Andean Geology. 17 (1): 19–55. doi:10.5027/andgeoV17n1-a02 (inactive 1 November 2024). ISSN 0718-7106.
4. 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. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-09-12. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
5. Nieto, Gastón L.; Haro, J. Augusto; McDonald, H. Gregory; Miño-Boilini, Ángel R.; Tauber, Adan A.; Krapovickas, Jerónimo M.; Fabianelli, Maximiliano N.; Rosas, Federico M. (2021-06-01). "The Skeleton of the Manus of Scelidotherium (Xenarthra, Mylodontidae) Specimens from the Pleistocene of the Province of Córdoba, Argentina, and its Systematic Implications". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 28 (2): 221–243. doi:10.1007/s10914-020-09520-x. ISSN 1573-7055. S2CID 226319627. Archived from the original on 2022-06-21. Retrieved 2022-06-21.