Description

GREAT specimen of a Giant Sloth Claw Leptostomus jeffersonii found in Gilchrest Co.Fl.
Giant Sloths COMMENTS: Excellent example. No restoration, very slight tip damage, in beautiful condition.
Sloths are grouped into three categories: mylodontids, megalonychids, and megatheriids. Glossotherium belongs to the Mylodontidae, in which it is further subcategorized into the Mylodontinae, characterized both by the loss of the entepicondylar foramen of the distal humerus and anteriorly broad snouts.
Mylodontinae has five genera: Lestodon, Thinobadistes, Mylodon, Paramylodon, and Glossotherium. The latter three have frequently been confused for each other in scientific literature, though it is likely Paramylodon and Glossotherium share a more recent common ancestor than with any other mylodontid. Paramylodon is typically larger than Glossotherium, even though there is overlap in their size ranges, and Glossotherium is generally wider and more robust with a diagnostic increased amount of lateral flare at the predental spout