Los Restos Tegumentarios De Perezosos Terrestres (Xenarthra, Folivora) De Última Esperanza (Chile). Cronología De Los Reportes, Origen Y Ubicación Actual

The dermal armor of mylodontid sloths (Mammalia, Xenarthra) from Cueva del Milodón (Última Esperanza, Chile)

“…Horizontal section of ossicle,” and was part of the histological sections prepared for Smith‐Woodward (Moreno & Smith‐Woodward, 1899). It was part of the skin found by Eberhardt and then taken by Moreno to the United Kingdom at the beginning of 1899 (see Pérez et al, 2018). The thin section was studied and photographed with a Nikon Eclipse E200 (binocular petrographic microscope), with an associated Leica D camera FC290 HD.…”

“…MLP 94‐VIII‐10‐28 consists of an extremely dehydrated and hard skin portion that, since its discovery, has lost much of its hair. The skin was previously sampled several times for various analyses (e.g., radiocarbon dates, fungal decay assessment, see Pérez et al, 2021), and has remained on exhibit for almost a century (Pérez et al, 2018). Due to its uniqueness and fragility, only restricted manipulation was allowed for this study.…”

“…), parts of the integument (nails, hair, or large skin portions), as well as excrements, which are arranged in a thick layer, with complete coprolites and disintegrated material, in the lower section of the sedimentary fill inside the cave (e.g., Hauthal, 1899; Roth, 1899, 1904; Smith‐Woodward, 1900). With the discovery of the first remains of mylodontine hides at the end of the 19th century (see Martinic, 1996; Pérez, Toledo, Vizcaíno, & Bargo, 2018), and the subsequent scientific publications, the analysis of fossils from the site gained importance, becoming one of the most debated topics among paleontologists in the late 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century with the proposal that ground sloths might still survive in southern South America (Pérez et al, 2018).…”

“…Ameghino (1898) was the first to describe and compare a skin with ossicles similar to those recovered in CdM, which he assigned to a “surviving” representative of Mylodontidae. However, the lack of specimen numbers and illustrations in the original publication and the uncertainty regarding their origin and provenance (see Pérez et al, 2018), prevent them from being considered as a reliable source of information. Subsequent and more detailed studies undoubtedly based on the mylodontine skin remains from CdM were made by Lönnberg (1899), Moreno and Smith‐Woodward (1899), Roth (1899), Smith‐Woodward (1900), Jacob (1902), and Branco (1906).…”

Fossil rodents in Mylodon Cave as indicators of late Pleistocene–Holocene environmental evolution in southern Chile

“…Located in southern continental Chile, close to the Pacific Ocean shore, the Mylodon Cave or Cueva del Milodón (CM, hereafter; also known as Caverna Eberhardt, Cave of Última Esperanza, or de Puerto Consuelo; Emperaire and Laming, 1954, p. 175) is one of the most emblematic and studied paleontological sites in South America (Martinic, 1996). Numerous contributions, starting at the end of nineteenth century, were made on several issues, especially the local occurrence and potential coexistence of giant ground sloths (Mylodon) and humans (see Martin, 2013, and references cited therein; Villavicencio et al, 2016;Pérez et al, 2018).…”