Committee Chair

Gaudin, Timothy J.

Committee Member

Aborn, David; Wilson, Thomas P.

Department

Dept. of Biological and Environmental Sciences

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Parocnus serus belongs to a unique radiation of extinct ground sloths endemic to the Antillean islands that was discovered in 1929, but, prior to this thesis, it had not been described in detail or had its phylogenetic and taxonomic relationships with other Antillean sloths extensively analyzed. This detailed description of skull and mandible specimens supported the distinctiveness of the genus Parocnus, and the existing size-based separation of the Antillean megalonychids. A morphological phylogenetic analysis of a sample of Antillean sloths supported the close relationship between P. serus and P. torrei but did not provide conclusive results on the relationships among the other Antillean sloths. A principal components analysis was performed using skull and mandibular measurements of Haitian sloth taxa. The PCA supported the separation of Parocnus, Acratocnus, and Neocnus into different genera, but did not support the current species distinctions among the three previously recognized species of Neocnus from Haiti.

Acknowledgments

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Timothy Gaudin, for his kindness, support, and guidance throughout my time at UTC. His attention to detail, encouragement, and intellectual excellence made this thesis possible. I am equally thankful for Dr. Thomas Wilson for his wise input on the thesis process and all his advice for succeeding in graduate school. I am also thankful to Dr. Aborn for devoting his time and energy to helping me succeed at this project. I would also like to thank the faculty and staff in the Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science department at UTC for providing me with the resources and education to complete this thesis in a professional and timely manner and Dr. Thien Le in the Mathematics department for his insight into the theory behind principal components analysis. My appreciation also goes out to Guillaume Billet at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle for funding the CT scans made by Rachel Narducci at the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH. Thank you to Rachel Narducci, the FLMNH, and the University of Florida for allowing me access to their extensive specimen collection.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

12-2025

Subject

Megalonychidae, Fossil; Megalonychidae--Haiti--Phylogeny; Paleoecology--Holocene

Keyword

Sloth; Parocnus; Haiti; Phylogeny; Taxonomy; Holocene

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

viii, 163 leaves

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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