Fossil discovery of a giant sloth in Mexico

According to a reporter in Mexico, on August 22, Mexican scientists announced the discovery of a fossil of a giant sloth in an underground cave in Mexico's Caribbean coast.

The new species was named Xibalbaonyx oviceps , based on the Mayan Xibalba referring to the afterlife, as well as the Greek word onyx because of its claws and ovum in the language. Latin because the skull is shaped like an egg.

Picture of a giant sloth.(Source: INAH TV).

The fossil was found in 2010 by cave explorer Vicente Fito in the Zapote cave, known as Mexio's Cave of Underground Caverns along the Caribbean Coast in the states of Yacatan and Quintana Roo.

The National Institute of Mexican Anthropology and History said that the skeleton was found almost intact at a depth of 50-55m and the theory that sloths had fallen into the cave when the cave was running out or there was little water.

The skull, jaw, 9 vertebrae, 3 long bones, 3 ribs and 7 claws of sloths were collected in 2014. But the rest of the remains are still in the deep hole and are expected to be collected. Full in 2018 for conservation as well as for scientific research purposes.

The existence of giant sloths has been widely reported in South America, where the species migrated to North America 9 million years ago.

However, the routes and evolutionary relationships of this species between North and South America are still not well understood, as well as the habitat and geographical barriers.