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Shasta Ground Sloth (Nothrotheriops shastense Hoffstetter) at Shelter Cave, New Mexico: Environment, Diet, and Extinction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert S. Thompson ,
Thomas R. Van Devender ,
Paul S. Martin ,
Theresa Foppe  and
Austin Long
Robert S. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Thomas R. Van Devender
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Paul S. Martin
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Theresa Foppe
Affiliation:
Composition Analysis Laboratory, 225 Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 USA
Austin Long
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
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Abstract

Seven coprolites of the extinct Shasta ground sloth (Nothrotheriops shastense) were recently discovered in the Los Angeles County Museum collection from Shelter Cave, New Mexico. Three dung balls provided radiocarbon ages of 11,330, 12,330 and 12,430 yr B.P. Packrat (Neotoma) middens disclose a xeric juniper woodland at Shelter Cave during the sloth's occupation. Plant cuticles from the dung indicate that the ground sloth had a diet dominated by mormon tea (Ephedra) and other xerophytic shrubs. Pollen spectra from the coprolites have high representations of anemophilous plants and low representations of the dietary items shown in the cuticle analysis.

Fifteen radiocarbon dates of sloth dung obtained since 1974 strengthen the hypothesis that sloth extinction occurred about 11,000 yr B.P. Paleoenvironmental studies indicate that ground sloths lived in juniper woodlands and montane conifer communities. Nothrotheriops commonly dined on shrubs that are still present in these habitats. It is difficult to explain the demise of the Shasta ground sloth by climatic change or dietary stress. Human predation remains as a possible explanation; ground sloth extinction appears to coincide with the time of Clovis mammoth hunters.

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Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , November 1980 , pp. 360 - 376
Copyright
University of Washington

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