Valgipes
Valgipes | |
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Skull of Valgipes bucklandi in dorsal view | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Pilosa |
Family: | †Scelidotheriidae |
Genus: | †Valgipes Gervais 1874 |
Species: | †V. bucklandi
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Binomial name | |
†Valgipes bucklandi Lund 1846
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Synonyms | |
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Valgipes is an extinct genus of scelidotheriid ground sloth, endemic to intertropical Brazil and Uruguay during the Late Pleistocene. Thought to have been a forest-dwelling browser,[1] Valgipes is a monotypic genus with a complex and long taxonomic history, and is a close relative of Catonyx and Proscelidodon.[2]
Taxonomy
The taxonomic history of Scelidotheriidae in Brazil is convoluted, and only one species of Valgipes, V. bucklandi, is recognised today, named in honour of
Below is a phylogenetic tree of the
Scelidotheriinae
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Description
It is similar in size and morphology to Catonyx, with longer and more gracile limb bones, and a wider skull.[2] A number of adult skulls have sagittal crests, while others do not, suggesting possible sexual dimorphism.[5] The claws are narrow and curve gently towards the palm, with the largest claw being on the third digit. Like some other members of the families Mylodontidae and Scelidotheriidae, it had bony osteoderms embedded in its skin.[2]
Paleobiology
During the Late Pleistocene, the habitat type of the regions inhabited by Valgipes is thought to have been mainly tropical dry forest. Isotopic analysis of a specimen from Rio Grande do Norte indicates it was a browsing animal which lived in relatively closed environments, including the Atlantic Forest, and had a varied diet of leaves, shoots, roots, and fruits.[1] In 2021, fossils attributed to V. bucklandi were described from southern Uruguay, in the cooler pampean region, around two thousand kilometres south of all other records.[6]
Distribution
Fossils of V. bucklandi have been found in:
- Pleistocene
- Iraquara;[2] Nova Redenção;[2][7] and Serra do Ramalho,[8] Bahia, Brazil
- Lagoa Santa[9] and São João das Missões,[2] Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Coronel José Dias,[2] Piauí, Brazil
- Felipe Guerra, Rio Grande do Norte,[1] Brazil
- Canelones, Uruguay[6]
Paleoecology
In the Brazilian Intertropical Region in eastern Brazil, Valgipes was a browser in arboreal savannahs and forested grasslands. Large, mesoherbivorous mammals in the BIR were widespread and diverse, including the cow-like
References
- ^ .
- ^ S2CID 83672203.
- ISBN 978-0-253-00719-3.
- S2CID 226319627.
- ^ Miño-Boilini, Ángel R.; Zurita, Alfredo E. (2015). "Dimorphism in Quaternary Scelidotheriinae (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Phyllophaga)". Palaeontologia Electronica. 18 (1).
- ^ .
- PMID 33293631.
- .
- ^ Valgipes at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Keeley, J. E., & Rundel, P. W. (2003). Evolution of CAM and C4 carbon-concentrating mechanisms. International journal of plant sciences, 164(S3), S55-S77.
- S2CID 225543776.
- ^ a b c Cartelle, Castor; Hartwig, W. C. (1996). "A new extinct primate among the Pleistocene megafauna of Bahia, Brazil". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 93 (13): 6405–6409.
- ISBN 978-0-226-19542-1.
- ^ Halenar, Lauren B. (December 2011). "Reconstructing the Locomotor Repertoire of Protopithecus brasiliensis". The Anatomical Record. 294 (12): 2048–2063.