Glossotherium

Glossotherium (literally "Tongue Beast") was a genus of ground sloth.[1] It was a heavily built animal with a length of about 4 metres (13 ft) snout to tail-tip and a weight estimated at 1002.6 kg (2210.3 lbs), and could potentially assume a slight bipedal stance.[2]

Fossils of this animal have been found in South America and Mexico.[3] It is closely related to Paramylodon of North America, whose specimens have often been confused with it and assigned to Glossotherium, which in turn was initially assigned to Mylodon. The earliest Glossotherium specimens are known from the Pliocene of South America and are represented by the species, G. chapadmalense. All specimens of Pleistocene age are typically lumped into G. robustum and a few other questionable species. Further research is needed at the species level.

Due to its size and strength, Glossotherium would have had few natural enemies apart from sabre-toothed cats such as Smilodon. It is believed to have died out in the Pleistocene (1.8 million - 12,000 years ago).[citation needed] The most recent reported date is about 8700 BP.

Description
Sloths are grouped into three categories: mylodontids, megalonychids, and megatheriids. Glossotherium belongs to the Mylodontidae, in which it is further subcategorized into the Mylodontinae, characterized both by the loss of the entepicondylar foramen of the distal humerus and anteriorly broad snouts.[5]

Mylodontinae has five genera: Lestodon, Thinobadistes, Mylodon, Paramylodon, and Glossotherium. The latter three have frequently been confused for each other in scientific literature,[5] though it is likely Paramylodon and Glossotherium share a more recent common ancestor than with any other mylodontid.[6] Paramylodon is typically larger than Glossotherium, even though there is overlap in their size ranges, and Glossotherium is generally wider and more robust with a diagnostic increased amount of lateral flare at the predental spout.

Glossotherium robustus
Glossotherium robustus was endemic to South America and weighed about 1500 kg.[7] Pleistocene records indicate that it was widely distributed between 20⁰S and 40⁰S, with a range spanning across Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay.