Acratocnus

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Pilosa

Family: Megalonychidae

Genus: Acratocnus
Species: A. odontrigonus
              A. antillensis
              A. ye

Temporal Range: 2.5 mya - 5000 BP (Pleistocene to Holocene)

Acratocnus is an extinct genus of ground sloth found in Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. It is a member of the family Megalonychidae, whose sole surviving genus is Choloepus (the two toed tree sloth)

 

HABITAT

The species of Acratocnus were found on the islands of Puerto Rico, Cuba and Hispaniola, where they inhabitat the montane forests of the highlands. The Puerto Rican ground sloth, Acratocnus odontrigonus is known from several poorly documented cave excavations in northwestern Puerto Rico. The various species are regarded as being semi-arboreal because of their small size and their large hooked claws.

SIZE

The various species of Acratocnus ranged in different weights. their weight varied from 22kg to 70 kg.This indicates that they are much larger than the living tree sloths as those are not more than 15 kg.

 

EXTINCTION

As with many sloth fossils, these species of sloth have not been radio-metrically dated. It is suggested that the Puerto Rican and Hispaniolan Acratocnus species survived into the late Pleistocene but disappeared by the mid-Holocene. According to the latest survival reports it is confirmed that there is no evidence of any kind of ground sloth in Cuba after 5000 BP. The causes of their extinction may have been climate changes or more likely human hunting or any kind of plague.