| Octodontotherium | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Octodontotherium crassidens fossil | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Pilosa |
| Family: | †Mylodontidae |
| Genus: | †Octodontotherium Ameghino, 1894 |
| Species | |
| |
Octodontotherium (meaning "eight toothed beast") is anextinctgenus ofground sloth of thefamilyMylodontidae,endemic toSouth America during theLate Oligocene (Deseadan). It lived from 29 to 23Mya, existing for approximately6 million years.[1]
Fossil distribution is exclusive to Santa Cruz Province,Argentina (Deseado andSarmiento Formations) andBolivia (Salla Formation).[1]
It was a large herbivore that fed on various types of plants.
Octodontotherium was named byAmeghino (1894). It was assigned to Mylodontidae by Carroll (1988); and toMylodontinae by Gaudin (1995).[2][3]
Orthodentine microwear analysis suggests thatOctodontotherium was an unspecialised herbivore able to feed on a variety of different plants.[4]
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