Paramylodon

Paramylodon is an extinct genus of ground sloth. It was endemic to North America in the Pliocene, and to the end of the Pleistocene epoch. It lived from around ~4.9 million years ago (mya) to 11,000 years ago.

Paramylodon Temporal range: Pliocene-Late Pleistocene (Blancan-Rancholabrean) ~
Skeleton in San Diego
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Superorder:	Xenarthra
Order:	Pilosa
Family:	†Mylodontidae
Subfamily:	†Mylodontinae
Tribe:	†Mylodontini
Genus:	†Paramylodon Brown 1903
Species:	†P. harlani Owen 1840

Paramylodon was about 3 m (9.8 ft) in height and weighted as much as 1089 kg. It is known from deposits in the United States, Mexico and as far south as Guatemala.

There is just one recognized species, P. harlani, (Owen) 1840, which is commonly referred to as Harlan's ground sloth in honor of the American paleontologist who first discovered and described a lower jaw in 1835.

Like the South American Mylodon, Paramylodon had dermal ossicles: small bones embedded in the skin. This made it harder for predators if they attacked from behind. Its skull and teeth suggest it was, like the other members of its group, a browser on leaves and small branches. It ate standing on its hind legs and using its huge hands to pull the vegetation into its mouth. Skeletons found in the La Brea tar pits were more or less complete.

Paramylodon Media

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  The first fossil finds of Paramylodon published by Richard Harlan in 1831

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  Portrait of Richard Harlan (1796-1843), half-length, left pose, full face, engraved by Michele Pekenino after a painting by Jacob Eichholtz, The United States National Library of Medicine collection * NLM Unique ID: 101417795 * NLM Image ID: B013872

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  Skull of Mylodon garmani, a synonym of Paramylodon harlani

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  Skulls of Mylodon (top) and Glossotherium (bottom)

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  Class portrait of Barnum Brown as it appeared in the 1897 yearbook of the University of Kansas

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  Restoration by M. Elie Cheverlange, 1931

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  Paramylodon harlani Owen, 1840 ground sloth skeleton from the Pleistocene of California, USA (Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver, Colorado, USA).*Living sloths are medium-sized, very slow-moving, arboreal mammals of South America & Mesoamerica. During the middle & late Cenozoic, several large, ground-dwelling sloth species existed in the Americas.

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  Skeletal remains of Paramylodon

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  Skeleton of Paramylodon with hands visible

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  A panorama of Rancho La Brea, in the foreground a skeleton of Paramylodon, at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto