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Ground sloth
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== Ecology == Ground sloths are generally regarded as herbivores, with some being [[Browsing (herbivory)|browsers]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Saarinen |first1=Juha |last2=Karme |first2=Aleksis |date=June 2017 |title=Tooth wear and diets of extant and fossil xenarthrans (Mammalia, Xenarthra) – Applying a new mesowear approach |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0031018216306630 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=476 |pages=42–54 |bibcode=2017PPP...476...42S |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.03.027|url-access=subscription }}</ref> others [[Grazing (behaviour)|grazers]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=van Geel |first1=Bas |last2=van Leeuwen |first2=Jacqueline F.N. |last3=Nooren |first3=Kees |last4=Mol |first4=Dick |last5=den Ouden |first5=Natasja |last6=van der Knaap |first6=Pim W.O. |last7=Seersholm |first7=Frederik V. |last8=Rey-Iglesia |first8=Alba |last9=Lorenzen |first9=Eline D. |date=January 2022 |title=Diet and environment of Mylodon darwinii based on pollen of a Late-Glacial coprolite from the Mylodon Cave in southern Chile |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |language=en |volume=296 |pages=104549 |bibcode=2022RPaPa.29604549V |doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2021.104549 |s2cid=239902623 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and some intermediate between the two as mixed feeders (both browsing and grazing),<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pujos |first1=François |last2=Gaudin |first2=Timothy J. |last3=De Iuliis |first3=Gerardo |last4=Cartelle |first4=Cástor |date=September 2012 |title=Recent Advances on Variability, Morpho-Functional Adaptations, Dental Terminology, and Evolution of Sloths |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10914-012-9189-y |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |language=en |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=159–169 |doi=10.1007/s10914-012-9189-y |issn=1064-7554 |s2cid=254701351 |hdl-access=free |hdl=11336/69736}}</ref> though a number of authors have argued that some ground sloths may have been omnivores.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last1=Tejada |first1=Julia V. |last2=Flynn |first2=John J. |last3=MacPhee |first3=Ross |last4=O’Connell |first4=Tamsin C. |last5=Cerling |first5=Thure E. |last6=Bermudez |first6=Lizette |last7=Capuñay |first7=Carmen |last8=Wallsgrove |first8=Natalie |last9=Popp |first9=Brian N. |date=2021-10-07 |title=Isotope data from amino acids indicate Darwin's ground sloth was not an herbivore |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=18944 |doi=10.1038/s41598-021-97996-9 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=8494799 |pmid=34615902|bibcode=2021NatSR..1118944T }}</ref> Sloths that had longer snouts are presumed to have had greater olfactory acuity, but appear to have also had less binocular vision and poorer ability to localize sounds. A number of extinct sloth species are thought to have had hearing abilities optimized for low frequencies, perhaps related to use of [[infrasound]] for communication.<ref name="Blanco2012">{{cite journal |last1=Blanco |first1=R.E. |last2=Rinderknecht |first2=A. |year=2012 |title=Fossil evidence of frequency range of hearing independent of body size in South American Pleistocene ground sloths (Mammalia, Xenarthra) |journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol |volume=11 |issue=8 |pages=549–554 |bibcode=2012CRPal..11..549B |doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2012.07.003}}</ref><ref name="Blanco2014">{{cite journal |last1=Blanco |first1=R.E. |last2=Jones |first2=W.W. |year=2014 |title=Estimation of hearing capabilities of Early Miocene sloths (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Folivora) and palaeobiological implications |journal=Historical Biology |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=390–397 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2014.946415 |s2cid=84691573}}</ref> Some ground sloths are suggested to have dug [[burrow]]s.<ref>Yizcaino,S.F.,Zdrate, M., Bargo, M.S., & Dondas, A. 2001. Pleistocene burrows in the Mar del Plata area (Argentina) and their probable builders. - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 46, 2, 289-301</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lopes |first1=Renato Pereira |last2=Frank |first2=Heinrich Theodor |last3=Buchmann |first3=Francisco Sekiguchi de Carvalho |last4=Caron |first4=Felipe |date=2017-04-03 |title=Megaichnus igen. nov.: Giant Paleoburrows Attributed to Extinct Cenozoic Mammals from South America |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10420940.2016.1223654 |journal=Ichnos |language=en |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=133–145 |bibcode=2017Ichno..24..133L |doi=10.1080/10420940.2016.1223654 |issn=1042-0940 |s2cid=133305289 |hdl-access=free |hdl=11449/162902}}</ref> Their skeletal anatomy suggests that they were incapable of running, and relied on other strategies to defend against predators,<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=McDonald |first=H. Gregory |date=September 2012 |title=Evolution of the Pedolateral Foot in Ground Sloths: Patterns of Change in the Astragalus |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10914-011-9182-x |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |language=en |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=209–215 |doi=10.1007/s10914-011-9182-x |issn=1064-7554|url-access=subscription }}</ref> though they were likely significantly more active and agile than living tree sloths.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Billet |first1=G. |last2=Germain |first2=D. |last3=Ruf |first3=I. |last4=de Muizon |first4=C. |last5=Hautier |first5=L. |date=December 2013 |title=The inner ear of Megatherium and the evolution of the vestibular system in sloths |journal=Journal of Anatomy |language=en |volume=223 |issue=6 |pages=557–567 |doi=10.1111/joa.12114 |issn=0021-8782 |pmc=3842198 |pmid=24111879}}</ref> Ground sloths were likely able to adopt a bipedal stance while stationary, allowing the forelimbs to be used to grasp vegetation as well as to use their claws for defence, though whether they were capable of moving in this posture is uncertain.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Toledo |first1=Nestor |last2=Arregui |first2=Mariano |date=2023-02-01 |title=Concurrent evidence from ichnology and anatomy: the scelidotheriine ground sloths (Xenarthra, Folivora) from the Pleistocene of Argentina |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2022.2035379 |journal=Historical Biology |language=en |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=284–292 |bibcode=2023HBio...35..284T |doi=10.1080/08912963.2022.2035379 |issn=0891-2963 |s2cid=246698665|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":8" /> Some ground sloths have been suggested to be able to climb.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stinnesbeck |first1=Sarah R. |last2=Frey |first2=Eberhard |last3=Avilés Olguín |first3=Jerónimo |last4=González |first4=Arturo González |last5=Velázquez Morlet |first5=Adriana |last6=Stinnesbeck |first6=Wolfgang |date=2021-11-02 |title=Life and death of the ground sloth Xibalbaonyx oviceps from the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2020.1819998 |journal=Historical Biology |language=en |volume=33 |issue=11 |pages=2610–2626 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2020.1819998 |bibcode=2021HBio...33.2610S |issn=0891-2963|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Some authors have suggested ground sloths were largely solitary animals, like living sloths,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Borrero |first1=Luis Alberto |last2=Martin |first2=Fabiana María |date=March 2012 |title=Ground sloths and humans in southern Fuego-Patagonia: taphonomy and archaeology |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00438243.2012.646145 |journal=World Archaeology |language=en |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=102–117 |doi=10.1080/00438243.2012.646145 |issn=0043-8243 |s2cid=86180858|url-access=subscription }}</ref> though other authors have argued that at least some ground sloths are likely to have engaged in gregarious behaviour.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tomassini |first1=Rodrigo L. |last2=Montalvo |first2=Claudia I. |last3=Garrone |first3=Mariana C. |last4=Domingo |first4=Laura |last5=Ferigolo |first5=Jorge |last6=Cruz |first6=Laura E. |last7=Sanz-Pérez |first7=Dánae |last8=Fernández-Jalvo |first8=Yolanda |last9=Cerda |first9=Ignacio A. |date=2020-07-02 |title=Gregariousness in the giant sloth Lestodon (Xenarthra): multi-proxy approach of a bonebed from the Last Maximum Glacial of Argentine Pampas |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=10955 |bibcode=2020NatSR..1010955T |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-67863-0 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=7331707 |pmid=32616813 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Whether or not ground sloths had a slow [[metabolism]] like living xenarthrans (including living sloths) is debated.<ref name=":6" /> Like living sloths, ground sloths likely only gave birth to a single offspring at a time,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pujos |first1=François |last2=De Iuliis |first2=Gerardo |last3=Vilaboim Santos |first3=Luciano |last4=Cartelle |first4=Cástor |date=2023-07-11 |title=Description of a fetal skeleton of the extinct sloth Nothrotherium maquinense (Xenarthra, Folivora): Ontogenetic and palaeoecological interpretations |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10914-023-09665-5 |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |language=en |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=577–595 |doi=10.1007/s10914-023-09665-5 |issn=1064-7554 |s2cid=259892230|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Semken |first1=Holmes A. |last2=Gregory McDonald |first2=H. |last3=Graham |first3=Russell W. |last4=Adrain |first4=Tiffany |last5=Artz |first5=Joe Alan |last6=Baker |first6=Richard G. |last7=Bryk |first7=Alexander B. |last8=Brenzel |first8=David J. |last9=Arthur Bettis |first9=E. |last10=Clack |first10=Andrew A. |last11=Grimm |first11=Brittany L. |last12=Haj |first12=Adel |last13=Horgen |first13=Sarah E. |last14=Mahoney |first14=Meghann C. |last15=Ray |first15=Harold A. |date=2022-06-30 |title=Paleobiology of Jefferson's Ground Sloth ( Megalonyx jeffersonii ) derived from three contemporaneous, ontogenetically distinct individuals recovered from Southwestern Iowa, U.S.A. |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=42 |issue=1 |bibcode=2022JVPal..42E4115S |doi=10.1080/02724634.2022.2124115 |issn=0272-4634 |s2cid=253258474 |doi-access=free}}</ref> with likely several years between the birth of offspring. At least some ground sloths engaged in long-term [[parental care]], with one adult (presumably female) ''Megalonyx'' found with two juveniles of different ages, with the oldest juvenile suggested to be 3–4 years old.<ref name=":3" /> Juvenile ground sloths may have clung to the body of their mother for some time following birth, as occurs in living tree sloths.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grass |first=Andy D. |date=2019-01-02 |title=Inferring differential behavior between giant ground sloth adults and juveniles through scapula morphology |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2019.1569018 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=e1569018 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2019.1569018 |bibcode=2019JVPal..39E9018G |issn=0272-4634|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
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