| Thinobadistes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| T. segnis, Florida Museum of Natural History Fossil Hall at the University of Florida | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Pilosa |
| Family: | †Mylodontidae |
| Tribe: | †Lestodontini |
| Genus: | †Thinobadistes Hay 1919 |
| Species | |
| |
Thinobadistes is an extinctgenus ofground sloth of thefamilyMylodontidae endemic toNorth America during theMiocene-Pliocene epochs (Hemphillian). It lived from 10.3 to 4.9mya, existing for approximately5.4 million years.[1]
Thinobadistes andPliometanastes were the first of the giant sloths to appear in N. America. BothPliometanastes andThinobadistes were in N. America before thePanamanian Land Bridge formed around 2.5 million years ago. It is then reasonable to presume that the ancestors ofThinobadistesisland-hopped across theCentral American Seaway fromSouth America, where sloths in general first evolved.[2]
Two specimens ofThinobadistes have been estimated to weigh 948 kg and 1066 kg each.[3]
The first reported discovery ofThinobadistes fossils came in 1887 when in Pleistocene deposits inLevy County,Florida, a member of theUnited States Geological Survey, possibly famous collectorJohn Bell Hatcher, collected an astragalus of a large mylodontid, though the fossil was referred toMylodon harlani until 1919.[4] The fossil was made as theholotype (USNM 3335) ofThinobadistes segnis by Oliver P. Hay in 1919, who believed it was a close relative ofGnathopsis.[5][4]Thinobadistessegnis' holotype was likely collected at "Mixon's Bone Bed",[5][4] which was the site at which many moreT. segnis fossils were found during the late 1930s and early 1940s by Frick Laboratory.[5] These fossils gave a comprehensive view on the taxon, including fossils from the skull and teeth. It wasn't until 1989 that many of the fossils were fully described by S. D. Webb, who also described many moreThinobadistes fossils from areas like theTexas Panhandle andWithlacoochee River.[6][5] Some of the younger and larger fossils were put into a new species,Thinobadistes wetzeli, which was also based on an astragalus found inHemphillian deposits of theWithlacoochee River, Florida.[5]
Fossils ofThinobadistes segnis have only been found at 2 sites, bothearly Hemphillian, the type quarry at "Mixon's Bone Bed" inLevy County, Florida and a single partialmolar found was at McGehee Farm inwestern Alachua County, Florida. The second named species,T. wetzeli, is from the lower early Hemphillian and has a wider distribution, with 2 sites containing fossils near theWithlacoochee River, Florida, 1 at Tyner Farm also in Alachua County,[6][5] and material of a juvenile found in theTexas Panhandle.[5] Fossils from an unknown species were found in the youngestThinobadistes-bearing deposits at Coffee Ranch in the Texas Panhandle.[5][7]
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