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The mammalian order Pilosa, which includes the sloths and anteaters, includes various species from the Caribbean region. Many species of sloths are known from the Greater Antilles, all of which became extinct over the last millennia, but some sloths and anteaters survive on islands closer to the mainland.
This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Belize. Of the mammal species in Belize , two are endangered, three are vulnerable, and three are near threatened. One species has been classified as extinct.
The various species of Caribbean sloths are thought to have become extinct following human arrival to the Caribbean during the mid-Holocene around 6,000 years ago based on the timing of the last radiocarbon dates of Caribbean sloths. [14]
Megalocnid sloths were relatively small compared to mainland ground sloths, [11] though they were the largest mammals native to the Caribbean islands [4] with the largest species Megalocnus rodens estimated to weigh around 146 kilograms (322 lb) [11] or 270 kilograms (600 lb), [4] with the smallest genera Neocnus and Acratocnus estimated to only weigh 8–15 kilograms (18–33 lb).
A unique and diverse albeit phylogenetically restricted mammal fauna [note 1] is known from the Caribbean region. The region—specifically, all islands in the Caribbean Sea (except for small islets close to the continental mainland) and the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Barbados, which are not in the Caribbean Sea but biogeographically belong to the same Caribbean bioregion—has ...
Family † Megalocnidae Delsuc et al. 2019 (megalocnid ground sloths of the Caribbean) Superfamily Megatherioidea Gray 1821. Family Bradypodidae Gray 1821 (three-toed sloths) Family †Megalonychidae Gervais 1855 (megalonychid ground sloths) Family †Megatheriidae Gray 1821 (megatheriid ground sloths)
Sloths can be 60 to 80 cm (24 to 31 in) long and, depending on the species, weigh from 3.6 to 7.7 kg (7.9 to 17.0 lb). Two-toed sloths are slightly larger than three-toed sloths. [22] Sloths have long limbs and rounded heads with tiny ears. Three-toed sloths also have stubby tails about 5 to 6 cm (2.0 to 2.4 in) long.
Ground sloths varied widely in size from under 100 kilograms (220 lb) in the Caribbean ground sloths, to 3,700–4,100 kilograms (8,200–9,000 lb) in the largest ground sloth genera Megatherium, Lestodon and Eremotherium. [8] [9] The bodies of ground sloths were generally barrel-shaped, with a broad pelvis. [10]