Youngest radiocarbon age for Jefferson's ground sloth, Megalonyx jeffersonii (Xenarthra, Megalonychidae)

Abstract

A partial skeleton of the extinct ground sloth, Megalonyx jeffersonii, recovered from a farm near Millersburg, Ohio in 1890, was radiocarbon dated for the first time. The ungual dated is part of a skeleton mounted for exhibit at the Orton Geological Museum at Ohio State University and was the first mounted skeleton of this animal. From its initial discovery the bones were treated with multiple organic compounds that had the potential to compromise the radiocarbon age and the specimen required special treatments in order to obtain a valid radiocarbon age. The 14C measurement on the ungual from this skeleton (11,235±4014Cyr BP=13,180–13,034calyr BP) is the youngest 14C age presently determined for M. jeffersonii.