Tejada et al., 2021. Isotope data from amino acids indicate Darwin's ground sloth was not an herbivore
This image portraits Darwin's sloth, Mylodon darwinii, opportunistically eating the carcass of a South American ungulate Macrauchenia. Isotopic data from amino acids showed that Mylodon was a sporadic omnivore, and not an obligate herbivore as traditionally thought. Notice Mylodon Cave (Chilean Patagonia) in the background, from where the Mylodon specimens analyzed in this study came from. Illustration: Jorge Blanco
This image portraits Darwin's sloth, Mylodon darwinii, opportunistically eating the carcass of a South American ungulate Macrauchenia. Isotopic data from amino acids showed that Mylodon was a sporadic omnivore, and not an obligate herbivore as traditionally thought. Notice Mylodon Cave (Chilean Patagonia) in the background, from where the Mylodon specimens analyzed in this study came from. Illustration: Jorge Blanco
Tejada et al., 2015. Life in proto‐Amazonia: Middle Miocene mammals from the Fitzcarrald Arch (Peruvian Amazonia)
The fauna of the Pebas mega wetland system was characterized by a large number of aquatic and semi-aquatic species, some of which are depicted in this reconstruction. River dolphins, the giant caiman Purussaurus, sharks, gharial crocodiles, turtles, rays, and many freshwater fish species. Illustration: Daniel Peña (watercolor)
The fauna of the Pebas mega wetland system was characterized by a large number of aquatic and semi-aquatic species, some of which are depicted in this reconstruction. River dolphins, the giant caiman Purussaurus, sharks, gharial crocodiles, turtles, rays, and many freshwater fish species. Illustration: Daniel Peña (watercolor)
Tejada et al., 2015. Life in proto‐Amazonia: Middle Miocene mammals from the Fitzcarrald Arch (Peruvian Amazonia)
Vertebrate community of the Pebas system, middle Miocene of Peruvian Amazonia. Depicted in the image (clockwise from bottom left): glyptodont Boreostemma, astrapothere Granastrapotherium snorkii , ground sloth Pseudoprepoterium, rodents Neoepiblema, Toxodon Pericotoxodon, and terrestrial crocodile Sebecus huilensis. Illustration: Daniel Peña. Watercolor
Vertebrate community of the Pebas system, middle Miocene of Peruvian Amazonia. Depicted in the image (clockwise from bottom left): glyptodont Boreostemma, astrapothere Granastrapotherium snorkii , ground sloth Pseudoprepoterium, rodents Neoepiblema, Toxodon Pericotoxodon, and terrestrial crocodile Sebecus huilensis. Illustration: Daniel Peña. Watercolor
Five million years ago, in the Pliocene, the South American Andean mountains were inhabited by megamammals with no close relatives or ecological equivalents in the present, such as giant ground sloths, glyptodonts -heavily armored armadillos- and a variety of native hoofed herbivores. These animals resulted from a 60-million-year evolutionary process that occurred when South America was an island continent. This reconstruction depicts a new rich Pliocene fossiliferous site in Espinar (Cusco Department), in the Peruvian Andean Plateau (~3900 of altitude). The fossil mammals discovered include (clockwise from bottom left corner): a medium-sized glyptodontine new to science, Andinoglyptodon mollohuancai, three species of large ground sloths (up to 1800 kg), and one rhino-like ungulate (center of image). These fossils from the Peruvian Andes reveal details of life in the Pliocene, just before the arrival of the immigrant mammals that characterize South American ecosystems today. Reference: Salas-Gismondi et al., 2023. Pliocene Pre-GABI herbivorous mammals from Espinar, Peruvian Andean Plateau. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, e2237079. Illustration: Jorge Gonzalez
