Catonyx

Catonyx
Temporal range: Early Pliocene-Early Holocene (Montehermosan-Lujanian)
~2.5–0.010 Ma
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Replica of a Catonyx skull at the Museo delle Scienze
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Pilosa
Family: †Scelidotheriidae
Genus: †Catonyx
Ameghino, 1891
Species
  • C. cuvieri Lund, 1839
  • C. chiliensis Lydekker, 1886
  • C. tarijensis Gervais and Ameghino, 1880

Catonyx is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Scelidotheriidae, endemic to South America during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs.[1] It lived from 2.5 Ma to about 10,000 years ago, existing for approximately 2.49 million years.[2] The most recent date obtained is about 9600 B.P.[3][4]

  1. ^ McDonald, H. G.; Perea, D. (2002). "The large scelidothere Catonyx tarijensis (Xenarthra, Mylodontidae) from the Pleistocene of Uruguay". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 22 (3): 677. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0677:TLSCTX]2.0.CO;2. JSTOR 4524258. S2CID 86021240.
  2. ^ PaleoBiology Database: Catonyx, basic info
  3. ^ Turvey, Sam (2009). Holocene extinctions. Oxford University Press. pp. 20–33, 42–50, 352. ISBN 978-0-19-953509-5.
  4. ^ Fiedal, Stuart (2009). "Sudden Deaths: The Chronology of Terminal Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinction". In Haynes, Gary (ed.). American Megafaunal Extinctions at the End of the Pleistocene. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer. pp. 21–37. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8793-6_2. ISBN 978-1-4020-8792-9.