Parocnus

Parocnus
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene–Holocene
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Skeleton of Parocnus dominicanus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Pilosa
Family: †Megalocnidae
Genus: †Parocnus
Miller 1929
Species

See text

Closeup of the skull with the jugal bone missing

Parocnus is an extinct genus of sloth native to Cuba and Hispaniola, belonging to the family Megalocnidae. It was a terrestrial ground sloth, being the second largest Caribbean sloth after Megalocnus,[1] with the body mass of the various species of the genus estimated at around 32–79 kilograms (71–174 lb),[2] comparable to a pig.[3]

Taxonomy

After[4]

  • †Parocnus browni Pleistocene to Holocene, Cuba
  • †Parocnus serus Pleistocene to Holocene, Hispaniola (synonym Megalocnus zile)[1]
  • †Parocnus dominicanus Pleistocene to Holocene, Hispaniola[5]

References

  1. ^ a b McAfee, Robert K.; Beery, Sophia M. (2021-03-04). "Intraspecific variation of Megalonychid sloths from Hispaniola and the taxonomic implications". Historical Biology. 33 (3): 371–386. Bibcode:2021HBio...33..371M. doi:10.1080/08912963.2019.1618294. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 195403443.
  2. ^ McDonald, H. Gregory (June 2023). "A Tale of Two Continents (and a Few Islands): Ecology and Distribution of Late Pleistocene Sloths". Land. 12 (6): 1192. doi:10.3390/land12061192. ISSN 2073-445X.
  3. ^ Gaudin, Timothy J.; Scaife, Thomas (March 2023). "Cranial osteology of a juvenile specimen of Acratocnus ye (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Folivora) and its ontogenetic and phylogenetic implications". The Anatomical Record. 306 (3): 607–637. doi:10.1002/ar.25062. ISSN 1932-8486. PMID 36054593.
  4. ^ White, J.L.; MacPhee, R.D.E. (2001). "The sloths of the West Indies: a systematic and phylogenetic review". In Woods, C. A.; Sergile, F. E. (eds.). Biogeography of the West Indies: Patterns and Perspectives. Boca Raton, London, New York, and Washington, D.C.: CRC Press. pp. 201–235. doi:10.1201/9781420039481-14. ISBN 978-0-8493-2001-9.
  5. ^ McAfee, Robert; Beery, Sophia; Rimoli, Renato; Almonte, Juan; Lehman, Phillip; Cooke, Siobhan (2021-08-31). "New species of the ground sloth Parocnus from the late Pleistocene-early Holocene of Hispaniola". Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology. 9 (1). doi:10.18435/vamp29369. ISSN 2292-1389.