Orophodon
Extinct genus of ground sloths
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Orophodon is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Mylodontidae, endemic to Argentina, South America.[1]
| Orophodon | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Pilosa |
| Family: | †Mylodontidae |
| Genus: | †Orophodon Ameghino, 1894 |
| Species: | †O. hapaloides |
| Binomial name | |
| †Orophodon hapaloides Ameghino, 1894 | |
Taxonomy
Orophodon was named by Florentino Ameghino in 1894. It was assigned to Mylodontidae by Carroll in 1988.[2][3]
Palaeoecology
O. hapaloides was a generalist herbivore able to feed on a wide variety of different plants.[4]
Orophodon lived with various Notoungulata, Sparassodonta, rodents, birds, etc. It is thought that O. hapaloides was preyed on by some species of Sebecidae and Phorusrhacidae like Dynamopterus.
