Yukon to the Yucatan: Habitat partitioning in North American Late Pleistocene ground sloths (Xenarthra, Pilosa)

H. Gregory McDonald

doi:10.54991/jop.2021.17

Authors

H. Gregory McDonald Colorado State Office, Bureau of Land Management 2850 Youngfield Street, Lakewood, CO 80215 USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.2021.17

Keywords:

Ground sloth, Pleistocene, Palaeoecology

Abstract

The late Pleistocene mammalian fauna of North America included seven genera of ground sloth, representing four families. This cohort of megaherbivores had an extensive geographic range in North America from the Yukon in Canada to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and inhabited a variety of biomes. Within this latitudinal range there are taxa with a distribution limited to temperate latitudes while others have a distribution restricted to tropical latitudes. Some taxa are better documented than others and more is known about their palaeoecology and habitat preferences, while our knowledge of the palaeoecology of taxa more recently discovered remains limited. In order to better understand what aspects of their palaeoecology allowed their dispersal from South America, long–term success in North America and ultimately the underlying causes for their extinction at the end of the Pleistocene more information is needed. A summary overview of the differences in the palaeoecology of the late Pleistocene sloths in North America and their preferred habitats is presented based on different data sources.

सारांश

उत्तरी अमेरिका के अंतिम प्लीस्टोसीन स्तनधारी जीवों में ग्राउंड स्लॉथ के सात वंश शामिल हैं जो कि चार परिवारों का प्रतिनिधित्व करते हैं। मेगाहर्बिवोर्स के इस समूह की कनाडा में युकोन से लेकर मेक्सिको में युकाटन प्रायद्वीप तक उत्तरी अमेरिका में व्यापक भौगोलिक सीमा है और विभिन्न प्रकार के बायोम में बसे हुए हैं। इस अक्षांशीय सीमा में समशीतोष्ण अक्षांशों तक सीमित वितरण वाले टैक्सा हैं जबकि अन्य उष्णकटिबंधीय अक्षांशों तक सीमित रूप से वितरित हैं। कुछ वर्गकों को दूसरों की तुलना में बेहतर प्रलेखित किया गया है और उनके पुरापारिस्थितिकी और आवास की प्राथमिकताओं के बारे में अधिक जानकारी है, जबकि हाल ही में खोजे गए वर्गकों के पुरापारिस्थितिकी के बारे में हमारा ज्ञान सीमित है। बेहतर ढंग से समझने के लिए कि उनके पुरापारिस्थितिकी के किन पहलुओं ने दक्षिण अमेरिका से उनके फैलाव की अनुमति दी, उत्तरी अमेरिका में दीर्घकालिक सफलता और अंततः प्लीस्टोसीन के अंत में उनके विलुप्त होने के अंतर्निहित कारणों के बारे में अधिक जानकारी की आवश्यकता है। विभिन्न डेटा स्रोतों के आधार पर उत्तर अमेरिका में उत्तर प्लीस्टोसीन स्लॉथ के पुरापारिस्थितिकी में अंतर और उनके पसंदीदा आवासों का सारांश अवलोकन प्रस्तुत किया गया है।

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