New Record of the Giant Ground Sloth Mylodonopsis ibseni Cartelle, 1991 in the Late Pleistocene of Brazilian Intertropical Region

Abstract

In this study, we refined the identification of a giant sloth molariform tooth previously attributed to indeterminate Mylodontinae, which was found in the tank deposit of Fazenda Elefante, Gararu municipality (Sergipe, Brazil). The mesiodistal and vestibulolingual diameters, as well as the index between the mesiodistal and vestibulolingual diameters of tooth LPUFS 1852, were compared with the measurements obtained from caniniforms and first and second molariforms of juvenile and adult individuals of Ocnotherium giganteum, Glossotherium phoenesis, and Mylodonopis ibseni. Based on this comparison, we attributed tooth LPUFS 1852 to the right first lower molariform of a juvenile individual of Mylodonopsis ibseni. This identification represents the fifth record of this taxon, which has been recorded in Lagoa Santa/MG, Toca dos Ossos (Ourolândia/Bahia), Gruta dos Brejões (Morro do Chapéu/BA), Fazenda Elefante (Gararu/SE), and Lagoa Tanque (Afrânio/PE)