The diversity reached by the mylodontids during the Pleistocene has been underestimated in the past. Oreomylodon wegneri, the endemic mylodontid of Ecuador, has been considered both a species of Glossotherium and a synonym of Glossotherium robustum. In this work, we provide a detailed description of abundant O. wegneri material and compare it with material of G. robustum from Argentina and other mylodontids. The study presented here shows that O. wegneri was a mylodontid with a singular cranial morphology, especially in the palate and nasal region and is possibly closer evolutionarily to Paramylodon harlani than to the more southern G. robustum.
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21 December 2019
Comparative Skull Osteology of Oreomylodon wegneri (Xenarthra, Mylodontinae): Defining the Taxonomic Status of the Ecuadorian Endemic Mylodontid
José Luis Román-Carrión,
Luciano Brambilla
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