Hapaloides
Temporal range: Early Miocene (Colhuehuapian)
~21.0–17.5 Ma
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Pilosa
Family: †Megalonychidae
Subfamily: †Ortotheriinae
Genus: †Hapaloides
Ameghino, 1902
Type species
†Hapaloides ignavus
Ameghino, 1902
Other species
  • †H. laevisculus Ameghino, 1902
  • †H. ponderosus Ameghino, 1902

Hapaloides is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Megalonychidae, endemic to Argentina during the Early Miocene. It lived from 21.0 mya to 17.5 mya, existing (as a genus) for approximately 3.5 million years.[1]

Found in the Colhuehuapian-aged Colpodon Beds of Argentina, three species are known: H. ignavus (the type species), H. laevisculus and H. ponderosus, all named by Florentino Ameghino in 1902.[2] H. ignavus is known from a partial cranium that is smaller than that of Hapalops rectangularis, which it was compared to.[2]

Ameghino in 1902 placed Hapaloides in the Megatheriidae,[2] alongside Proschismotherium, which was its sister taxon,[3][4] while more recent taxonomic reviews place Hapaloides within Megalonychidae.[1][5]

References

  1. ^ a b R. L. Carroll. (1988). Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution 1–698
  2. ^ a b c Ameghino, Florentino (1902). "Première contribution a la connaissance de la faune mammalogique des couches a Colpodon [First contribution to the knowledge of the mammalian fauna of the Colpodon Beds]". Boletin de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias en Córdoba, República Argentina. 17: 71–141 [131–133].
  3. ^ "Hapaloides". Fossilworks. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Proschismotherium". Fossilworks. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  5. ^ McKenna & Bell (1997) Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level
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