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Nothrotheriops
''Nothrotheriops'' is a genus of Pleistocene ground sloth found in North America, from what is now central Mexico to the southern United States.〔(PaleoBiology Database: ''Nothrotheriops'', basic info )〕 This genus of bear-sized xenarthran was related to the much larger, and far more famous ''Megatherium'', although it has recently been placed in a different family, Nothrotheriidae. The most well known species, ''N. shastensis'', is also called the Shasta ground sloth.
==Discovery and species==
Fossils of the best-known species, the Shasta ground sloth (''N. shastensis''), have been found throughout western North America, especially in the American Southwest. It is the ground sloth found in greatest abundance at the La Brea Tar Pits. The most famous specimen was recovered from a lava tube at Aden Crater in New Mexico and was found to still have hair and tendon preserved.〔Lull, S. 1929. A remarkable ground sloth. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Yale University, 3: 1-39.〕 This nearly complete specimen is on display at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut. Numerous dung boluses belonging to ''Nothrotheriops'' have also been found throughout the southwestern United States and have provided an insight into the diet of these extinct animals.
Although ''N. shastensis'' was one of the smallest ground sloth species, it still reached from head to tail and weighed (one-quarter of a tonne) - much smaller than some of its contemporary species such as the ''Eremotherium'', which could easily weigh over two tons and be long.〔Lange, Ian M., ''Ice Age Mammals of North America: A Guide to the Big, the Hairy, and the Bizarre'', Mountain Press Publishing Company, 2002. Pg. 83, 85〕 It had large, stout hindlegs and a powerful, muscular tail that it used to form a supporting tripod whenever it shifted from a quadrupedal stance to a bipedal one (i.e. ''Eremotherium'').〔Barton Miles & Co., Prehistoric America. A journey through the Ice Age and beyond. BBC publishing, 2002. Pg 108-9.〕
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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