Eremotherium laurillardi

Overview

Eremotherium laurillardi is an extinct ground sloth with large limbs, a long tail, and large claws on its forefeet. It is studied through fossils from South America and regions farther north. Small hand bones can reveal the construction of an enormous body.^[1][3]

Key facts

A single metacarpal can hold clues to a large body. BUAPALZ-998 from Mexico provides material for comparing the robustness of the third and fourth metacarpals. A small part of the skeleton can help identify a large ground sloth.^[2]

Time and place

This ground sloth is known from the Pleistocene Americas. The fossil assemblage at San Mateo Huexoyucan in present-day Tlaxcala, Mexico, has been studied as late Pleistocene. Museum accounts also introduce material from Peru.^[2][3][4]

The time range describes source context, not the complete duration of this species.

Size, form and skeleton

Its characteristic features include large limbs, a long tail, and large claws on the forelimbs. A museum account gives a body length of about 20 feet, roughly 6 m, and a height when standing on two legs of about 13 feet, roughly 4 m. Distinguishing body length from standing height helps convey its size.^[1][3]

Habitat and reproduction

Hand and foot bones provide clues to how it supported its large body. Museum accounts also describe inward-facing hind feet and a posture standing on the hind legs. Considering the long tail and limbs together allows comparisons of how large ground sloths used their bodies.^[2][3]

Fossil discovery

A 2016 study assigned metacarpal material from a late Ice Age mammal assemblage in Mexico to this species. Geological institutions and museums also explain its differences from other large ground sloths. Descriptions of partial bones and comparisons of whole bodies proceed alongside one another.^[2][1][3]

References

1. Colombian Geological Survey — Megatherium and Eremotherium
2. 2016 study — Late Ice Age mammals from Tlaxcala, Mexico
3. The Beasts of Pampa La Brea, a Peruvian Tar Pit
4. International Commission on Stratigraphy (2024) — Geological time chart
5. Davis et al. (2022) — Posture and preserved tissues of the Shasta ground sloth

Research questions

How did the hands and feet of giant ground sloths differ? Researchers compare metacarpal robustness, claws, and the orientation of the hind feet. Even close relatives with similarly large bodies reveal different features.^[2][1][3]

Observation

Move your gaze from the head past the large forelimbs and claws to the hind limbs and long tail. Picture body length separately from height when standing on two legs to appreciate the enormous body.^[3]