Comparative skull osteology of Oreomylodon wegneri (Xenarthra, Mylodontinae): defining the taxonomic status of the Ecuadorian endemic mylodontid

Abstract

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.