Megatheriinae Temporal range: Early Miocene to Early Holocene ( Hemphillian- Rancholabrean ( NALMA) & Santacrucian- Lujanian) ( SALMA)17.5–0.010  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Megatherium americanum skeleton, Natural History Museum, London
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Pilosa
Family:	† Megatheriidae
Subfamily:	† Megatheriinae Gill, 1872
Genera
† Anisodontherium † Diabolotherium † Eomegatherium † Eremotherium † Megathericulus † Megatheridium † Megatheriops † Megatherium † Ocnopus † Perezfontanatherium † Plesiomegatherium † Pliomegatherium † Proeremotherium † Promegatherium † Pyramiodontherium † Sibotherium [1] † Urumaquia

Megatheriinae is a subfamily of the Megatheriidae, an extinct family of ground sloths that lived from the Middle Miocene to the Early Holocene. ^{[2] [3]}

Classification

Within the Megatheriidae there are two (possibly three) subfamilies; the Megatheriinae and the Planopsinae. The phylogenetically older group is represented by the Planopsinae from the Lower and Middle Miocene. These still possessed a caniniform anterior tooth, which was separated from the posterior molar-like teeth by a small diastema . The more derived Megatheriinae, which are known from the Middle Miocene to the Early Holocene, on the other hand, had fully homodontic molars in a closed row. ^[4] Originally, the subfamilies of the Nothrotheriinae and the Schismotheriinae were also placed in the Megatheriidae. ^[5] Based on skull studies, the Nothrotheriidae, in which, among other genera, Nothrotherium, Nothrotheriops, and the semiaquatic Thalassocnus are placed, are regarded as a separate family, which forms the sister group of the Megatheriidae. ^[6]

References