Mylodon

Mylodon Temporal range: Early Pleistocene-Early Holocene ~0.781–0.01 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ (Uquian-Lujanian)
Lithograph of the skull of Mylodon
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Pilosa
Family:	†Mylodontidae
Tribe:	†Mylodontini
Genus:	†Mylodon Owen, 1840
Species:	†M. darwini
Binomial name
†Mylodon darwini Owen, 1840

Mylodon is an extinct genus of ground sloth belonging to the family Mylodontidae, known from southern South America. With a total length of 3 to 4 m and a body mass of 1-2 tonnes, it is one of the largest mylodontids.

The oldest finds probably date to the Lower Pleistocene; however, most of the fossil remains date to the Late Pleistocene. Its distribution ranged from southern Bolivia and the Pampas in the north southwards to the southernmost part of Patagonia at around 52-53 degrees south, the furthest south of any Pleistocene ground sloth, with some of the best known remains of the species being from the eponymous Cueva del Milodon (cave of Mylodon) in southern Chile.

In addition to skeletal remains, Mylodon is also known from preserved skin and hair. Preserved dung (coprolites) indicates that Mylodon was a primarily a grazer, feeding on grasses and sedges.

Mylodon has generally only a single recognised species, Mylodon darwini, which was described by Richard Owen in 1840 based on remains collected in the Pampas by Charles Darwin (for whom the species is named) during the Voyage of the Beagle. Some recent authors suggest that there were two species, with M. darwini restricted to the Pampas, with the Patagonian remains belonging to the separate species Mylodon listai.^[1]

Mylodon went extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene-beginning of the Holocene, around 12-10,000 years ago, as part of the end-Pleistocene extinction event, along with other ground sloths and most large animals across the Americas. Mylodon chronologically overlapped with Paleoindians, the first humans to inhabit the Americas, evidence from several sites suggest that they may have hunted Mylodon. The extinction of Mylodon may be the result of climatic change, hunting by Paleoindians, or a combination of both factors.