02349nas a2200433 4500008004100000245005000041210005000091260001600141300001600157490000600173520111000179100002301289700002301312700002101335700002701356700001901383700001801402700002001420700002201440700002301462700002501485700002201510700002501532700002401557700001801581700002001599700002001619700001701639700002401656700002901680700002101709700002501730700002001755700002101775700002001796700002101816700002501837856005301862 2019 eng d00aPalaeoproteomics resolves sloth relationships0 aPalaeoproteomics resolves sloth relationships cJun-06-2019 a1121–11300 v33 a
The living tree sloths Choloepus and Bradypus are the only remaining members of Folivora, a major xenarthran radiation that occupied a wide range of habitats in many parts of the western hemisphere during the Cenozoic, including both continents and the West Indies. Ancient DNA evidence has played only a minor role in folivoran systematics, as most sloths lived in places not conducive to genomic preservation. Here we utilize collagen sequence information, both separately and in combination with published mitochondrial DNA evidence, to assess the relationships of tree sloths and their extinct relatives. Results from phylogenetic analysis of these datasets differ substantially from morphology-based concepts: Choloepus groups with Mylodontidae, not Megalonychidae; Bradypus and Megalonyx pair together as megatherioids, while monophyletic Antillean sloths may be sister to all other folivorans. Divergence estimates are consistent with fossil evidence for mid-Cenozoic presence of sloths in the West Indies and an early Miocene radiation in South America.
1 aPresslee, Samantha1 aSlater, Graham, J.1 aPujos, François1 aForasiepi, Analía, M.1 aFischer, Roman1 aMolloy, Kelly1 aMackie, Meaghan1 aOlsen, Jesper, V.1 aKramarz, Alejandro1 aTaglioretti, Matías1 aScaglia, Fernando1 aLezcano, Maximiliano1 aLanata, José, Luis1 aSouthon, John1 aFeranec, R., S.1 aBloch, Jonathan1 aHajduk, Adam1 aMartin, Fabiana, M.1 aGismondi, Rodolfo, Salas1 aReguero, Marcelo1 ade Muizon, Christian1 aGreenwood, Alex1 aChait, Brian, T.1 aPenkman, Kirsty1 aCollins, Matthew1 aMacPhee, Ross, D. E. uhttp://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-0909-z