Hypsodonty in the Pleistocene ground sloth Megalonyx: Closing the "diastema" of data

Abstract

Hypsodonty in Pleistocene ground sloths was reported by Bargo et al. (2006), but no data was provided for megalonychids. Herein, hypsodonty indices (HI) are presented for 22 Megalonyx specimens (mean = 1.06, SD = 0.10), and statistical analysis suggests that there were no significant changes in HI during the ontogeny or phylogeny of the genus during the Pleistocene.