Name:
Eremotherium
(Solitary beast).
Phonetic: Eh-re-moe-fee-ree-um.
Named By: Spillmann - 1948.
Synonyms: Schaubia, Schaubitherium,
Xenocnus.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Xenarthra,
Pilosa, Megatheriidae.
Species: E. laurillardi, E. eomigrans.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: 6 meters long.
Known locations: North and South America.
Time period: Pliocene through to the end of the
Pleistocene.
Fossil representation: Multiple specimens, some
almost complete.
At up six meters long Eremotherium rivalled even the world famous Megatherium for size. However unlike Megatherium, Eremotherium fossils are also known in the United States, making Eremotherium one of the largest ground sloths in North America.
Further reading
- Eremotherium laurillardi: the Panamerican late
Pleistocene
megatheriid sloth. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. - C. Cartelle
& G. De Iuliis - 1995.
- Eremotherium sefvei nov. sp. (Mammalia,
Xenarthra, Megatheriidae)
from the Pleistocene of Ulloma, Bolivia. - Geobios 30(3):453-461. - G.
De Iuliis and P. A. Saint-Andre - 1997.
- A new giant megatheriine ground sloth (Mammalia: Xenarthra:
Megatheriidae) from the late Blancan to early Irvingtonian of Florida.
- Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 127:495-515. - G. De Iuliis
& C. Cartelle - 1999.
-
A monodominant late-Pleistocene megafauna locality from Santa Elena,
Ecuador: Insight on the biology and behavior of giant ground sloths. -
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 544: 109599. - Emily
L. Lindsey, Erick X. Lopez Reyes, Gordon E. Matzke, Karin A. Rice &
H. Gregory McDonald - 2020.