Scelidodon
Introduction '''''Scelidodon''''' is an extinct genus of South American ground sloths. Its remains have been found in the Yupoí and Uspara Formations of Argentina, the Ulloma, Umala, Ñuapua and Tarija Formations of Bolivia, in Brazil, in Chile and in Peru. The youngest fossils have been dated to as recently as 9000 B.P. ''Scelidodon tarijarensis'' front
Description ''Scelidodon'' was one of the last of the ground sloths and was one of the largest scelidotheriids, with ''S. chiliense'' reaching up to 4.7 meters. Its body weight has been estimated at over 1500 kg. ''Scelidodon'' was widely distributed in temperate grassland environments and due to its contemporary megatheriines being high browsers, this suggests that ''Scelidodon'' was a grazer like its close relative, ''Scelidotherium''.
Discovery The first remains of ''Scelidodon'' were collected in the 1850s in Tarija Valley, Bolivia and consisted of a skull and mandible (MNHN TAR 1260). It wasn't until 1880 that Paul Gervais and Florentino Ameghino described the remains as ''Scelidotherium tarijarensis''''.'' In the same paper, ''Scelidotherium capellini'' was described based on a left hemimandible (MNHN PAM 231) with a referred skull (MACN 994), the fossils were found at ‘‘Toscas del Rio de la Plata’’ in Argentina. The genus ''Scelidodon'' was erected in 1881 with the type species, ''Scelidodon cope''i'','' name by Ameghino. The type specimen (MACN A-1158) of ''S. copei'' comes from Ensenadan sediments in Mercedes, Buenos Aires province and consists of a left maxilla. ''S. tarijarensis'' and ''S. capellini'' were transferred to ''Scelidodon'' in 1889 by Ameghino. ''S. chiliense'' was named based on a skull (BMNH M 2819) from the late Pleistocene of Chile by Richard Lydekker in 1886.Since the 19th century, much material of ''Scelidodon'' has been found from 5 countries and is one of the most well preserved scelidotheres.
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