Octodontotherium (meaning "eight toothed beast") is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Mylodontidae, endemic to South America during the Late Oligocene (Deseadan). It lived from 29 to 23 Mya, existing for approximately .PaleoBiology Database: Octodontotherium, basic info
Fossil distribution is exclusive to Santa Cruz Province, Argentina (Deseado and Sarmiento Formations) and Bolivia (Salla Formation).
It was a large herbivore that fed on various types of plants.
Taxonomy Octodontotherium was named by Ameghino (1894). It was assigned to Mylodontidae by Carroll (1988); and to Mylodontinae by Gaudin (1995).R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York 1-698T. J. Gaudin. 1995. The ear region of edentates and the phylogeny of Tardigrada (Mammalia, Xenarthra). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 15(3):672-705
Palaeoecology Orthodentine microwear analysis suggests that Octodontotherium was an unspecialised herbivore able to feed on a variety of different plants.
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