Distribution patterns of Megatheriidae ground sloths during the late Cenozoic
Biogeografía de Perezosos Megaterinos en el Cenozoico
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30972/fac.3427467Keywords:
Folivora, Mammalia, Megatheriidae, PanbiogeographyAbstract
The Megatheriidae sloths (Mammalia, Xenarthra) are a clade of Folivora with a broad latitudinal and altitudinal distribution. Records extend from Argentina to the United States during the early Miocene to the late Pleistocene (approximately 15.97 Ma - 11 Ka). It comprises two subfamilies, Planopinae endemic to South America and Megatheriinae with a broad record in the Americas. The main objective of this work was to analyze the distribution patterns of Megatheriidae via a panbiogeographic analysis. This method emphasizes the importance of the spatial dimension of biodiversity to generate a more adequate understanding of evolutionary patterns and processes. The software Croizat Reloaded version 1.3.0 (Quantitative Analysis in Panbiogeography) was used for this purpose. The results yielded three generalized tracks (GT) and a panbiogeographic node. GT A corresponds to the subfamily Planopinae, while GT B and GT C correspond to the subfamily Megatheriinae. Subsequently, contact zones between the ancestral biotas of Planopinae and Megatheriinae were established, and it was concluded that Megatheriidae is a clade whose distribution was intimately linked to climatic and geological phenomena that affected the continent between the Miocene and the Pleistocene. These events would have had a vicariant event, separating ancestral populations of megatherians into two subfamilies with evolutionary histories that differ in their latitudinal and altitudinal distribution.
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