Australonyx
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = Late Pleistocene (Lujanian)
| image = Australonyx.png
| image_caption = Skull
| genus = Australonyx
| parent_authority = De Iuliis et al, 2009
| species = aquae
| authority = De Iuliis et al, 2009
}}
Australonyx is an extinct genus of ground sloths, endemic to South America during the Late Pleistocene. It was found in Brazil.{{cite web | title = Australonyx in the Paleobiology Database | work = Fossilworks | url = https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=252386 | access-date = 17 December 2021}}
{{Location map| Brazil|lat_deg=12|lat_min=46|lat_sec=50|lat_dir=S|lon_deg=41|lon_min=09|lon_sec=02|lon_dir=W|relief=1|label=Poço Azul}}
Discovery
The holotype specimen was recovered from Poço Azul, an underwater cave system in Nova Redenção, Bahia state. (The same cave also yielded remains of another extinct sloth species, Ahytherium.) The specimen was well preserved, consisting of both the front and back half of the skull (but missing the midsection), the mandible, most of the spine, and some elements from the limbs.{{cite journal|last1=De Iuliis|first1=Gerardo|last2=Pujos|first2=François|last3=Cartelle|first3=Cástor|title=A new ground sloth (Mammalia: Xenarthra) from the Quaternary of Brazil|journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol|volume=8|issue=8|date=December 2009|pages=705–715|doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2009.07.003|bibcode=2009CRPal...8..705D }} Additionally, a nearly identical almost complete skull from Rondônia can be referred to this species.{{cite journal|last1=De Iuliis|first1=Gerardo|last3=Pujos|first3=François|last2=Cartelle|first2=Cástor|title=New Pleistocene remains of megalonychid ground sloths (Xenarthra: Pilosa) from the intertropical Brazilian region|journal=Journal of Paleontology|volume=90|issue=3|pages=578–587|date=May 2016|doi=10.1017/jpa.2016.52|bibcode=2016JPal...90..578D |s2cid=89535019 |hdl=11336/59437|hdl-access=free}}
Ecology
Australonyx is suggested to have been a mixed feeder (both browsing and grazing).{{Cite journal |last1=Dantas |first1=Mário A.T. |last2=Santos |first2=Adaiana M.A. |date=August 2022 |title=Inferring the paleoecology of the Late Pleistocene giant ground sloths from the Brazilian Intertropical Region |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0895981122001882 |journal=Journal of South American Earth Sciences |language=en |volume=117 |pages=103899 |doi=10.1016/j.jsames.2022.103899|bibcode=2022JSAES.11703899D |url-access=subscription }}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Pilosan genera|M.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q30326629}}
Category:Pleistocene xenarthrans
Category:Prehistoric placental genera
Category:Pleistocene mammals of South America
Category:Fossil taxa described in 2009
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