Yukon to the Yucatan: Habitat partitioning in North American Late Pleistocene ground sloths (Xenarthra, Pilosa)

Abstract

The late Pleistocene mammalian fauna of North America included seven genera of ground sloth, representing four families. This cohort of megaherbivores had an extensive geographic range in North America from the Yukon in Canada to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and inhabited a variety of biomes. Within this latitudinal range there are taxa with a distribution limited to temperate latitudes while others have a distribution restricted to tropical latitudes. Some taxa are better documented than others and more is known about their palaeoecology and habitat preferences, while our knowledge of the palaeoecology of taxa more recently discovered remains limited. In order to better understand what aspects of their palaeoecology allowed their dispersal from South America, long–term success in North America and ultimately the underlying causes for their extinction at the end of the Pleistocene more information is needed. A summary overview of the differences in the palaeoecology of the late Pleistocene sloths in North America and their preferred habitats is presented based on different data sources.