Proeremotherium | |
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Two skulls of Proeremotherium, holotype on the right | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Pilosa |
Family: | †Megatheriidae |
Genus: | †Proeremotherium Carlini et al. 2006 |
Species: | †P. eljebe
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Binomial name | |
†Proeremotherium eljebe Carlini et al. 2006
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Proeremotherium is an extinct genus of megatheriine ground sloths in the family Megatheriidae. It lived during the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene of what is now Venezuela. So far, two largely complete skulls have been recovered in the Falcón Basin in Venezuela. The finds identify the animals as medium-sized representatives of the Megatheriidae. In the cranial anatomy, Proeremotherium resembles the later and giant Eremotherium. It is therefore assumed that the two ground sloths are directly related to each other.