Xibalbaonyx
| Xibalbaonyx | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Pilosa |
| Family: | †Megalonychidae |
| Subfamily: | †Megalonychinae |
| Genus: | †Xibalbaonyx Stinnesbeck et al. (2017) |
| Type species | |
| †Xibalbaonyx oviceps Stinnesbeck et al 2017
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| Other species | |
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Xibalbaonyx is an extinct genus of megalonychid ground sloth known from the Late Pleistocene of Mexico. Two species are known: X. oviceps from the Yucatan peninsula and X. microcaninus from Jalisco. The genus is named after Xibalba, the underworld in Maya mythology.
Discovery and taxonomy
As of 2018, the two species are only known from one specimen each, with the holotype of X. oviceps being a mostly complete skeleton discovered in an underwater cave system,[1] while X. microcaninus being known from a complete skull and mandible from the sediments of the former paleolake of lake Jalisco.[2] The overlapping remains of the skull and mandibles have notable differences between them, enough to call them distinct species.
References
- ^ Stinnesbeck, Sarah R.; Frey, Eberhard; Olguín, Jerónimo Avíles; Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang; Zell, Patrick; Mallison, Heinrich; González González, Arturo; Aceves Núñez, Eugenio; Velázquez Morlet, Adriana; Terrazas Mata, Alejandro; Benavente Sanvicente, Martha; Hering, Fabio; Rojas Sandoval, Carmen (2017). "Xibalbaonyx oviceps, a new megalonychid ground sloth (Folivora, Xenarthra) from the Late Pleistocene of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, and its paleobiogeographic significance". PalZ. 91 (2): 245–271. doi:10.1007/s12542-017-0349-5. ISSN 0031-0220.
- ^ Stinnesbeck, Sarah R.; Frey, Eberhard; Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang (2018). "New insights on the paleogeographic distribution of the Late Pleistocene ground sloth genus Xibalbaonyx along the Mesoamerican Corridor". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 85: 108–120. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2018.05.004. ISSN 0895-9811.