The real nature of Megatherium laurillardi LUND, 1842 (Mammalia, Xenarthra): a dwarf amongst giants

Some remains of a very small megatheriid have been uncovered in the Upper P leistocene/Lower Holocene deposits of the Lagoa da Pedra at Conceicao das C reoulas (Salgueiro, Pernambuco, Brazil). Among the remains are an adult max illary with four molariforms, four isolated adult and four extremely juveni le isolated teeth. This material is identical to that found by P.W. Lund at Lagoa Santa in Minas Gerais, later described in 1842 as Megatherium lauril lardii, and hence allowing us to allocate the taxon to the genus Eremotheri um. Other remains have been found in Sao Raimundo Nonato Archaeological Are a. The new material demonstrates that E. laurillardi is in no way a juvenil e of the gigantic Eremotherium species commonly found in the Pleistocene of Intertropical South America, as was frequently thought to be the case. Cle arly then, the species name laurillardi cannot be used for the large Eremot herium species whose name must be E. rusconii (SCHAUB, 1935). The real E. l aurillardi, sympatric with the large species, with its' remarkable diminuti ve stature amongst the Pleistocene members of the family, is therefore know n from four sites in North-Eastern and South-Eastern Brazil.