page_title: Nothrotheriops
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Nothrotheriops / Description
caption_attribution_description: Nothrotherium hair on display at the University of California Museum of Paleontology in Berkeley, California.
context_page_description: Nothrotheriops is a genus of Pleistocene ground sloth found in North America, from what is now central Mexico to the southern United States. This genus of bear-sized xenarthran was related to the much larger, and far more famous Megatherium, although it has recently been placed in a different family, Nothrotheriidae. The best known species, N. shastensis, is also called the Shasta ground sloth.
context_section_description: Although N. shastensis was one of the smallest ground sloth species, it still reached 2.75 metres (9.0 ft) from snout to tail tip and weighed 250 kilograms (551 lb) (one-quarter of a tonne) - much smaller than some of its contemporary species such as the Eremotherium, which could easily weigh over two tonnes and be 6 metres (20 ft) long. It had large, stout hindlegs and a powerful, muscular tail that it used to form a supporting tripod whenever it shifted from a quadrupedal stance to a bipedal one (i.e. Eremotherium).
caption: Skin discovered in Gypsum Cave, Nevada.
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