Superorder Xenarthra Subfamily †Lestodontinae Phylum Chordata | Tribe †Thinobadistini Rank Genus | |
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Similar Mylodontidae, Nematherium, Glossotherium, Lestodon, Hapalops | ||
Thinobadistes is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Mylodontidae, endemic to North America during the Miocene-Pleistocene epochs. It lived from 13.6—5.3 mya, existing for approximately 8.3 million years.
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Thinobadistes and Pliometanastes were the first of the giant sloths to appear in N. America. Both Pliometanastes and Thinobadistes were in N. America before the Panamanian Land Bridge formed around 2.5 million years ago. It is then reasonable to presume that the ancestors of Thinobadistes island-hopped across the Central American Seaway from South America, where sloths in general first evolved.
Taxonomy
Thinobadistes was named by Hay (1919). Its type is Thinobadistes segnis. It was assigned to Mylodontidae by Hay (1919) and Carroll (1988).
Fossil distribution
Fossils have been uncovered from Florida to Texas.