Sloth tooth

[Shellseeker]

I like all fossils but I have a special affinity for Sloth. I find a lot of it and once again, in my last sieve of the day, up pops a broken sloth tooth. Many of my hunting friends like Megs a lot better, but for me Sloths are rare but come to me somewhat frequently. If a tooth must be broken, I get the best part -- the chewing surface.

 

So we all know this is a sloth tooth but I have more detailed questions.

1) Which specific species? Paramylodon Harlani?  Megalonyx Jeffersonii? leptostomus?

2) Is this specific tooth a caniform?

3) Why is this tooth concave? Is the tooth above it convex?

 

I know that only a few may have the expertise to specify Sloth tooth details,  but posting here helps me share the rare find and share this tooth with those TFF members who are also addicted to Sloth material. Also, it may make me more sloth knowledgeable.

 

 

 

UPDATED to add a link to this thread from 2013 which also has a sloth caniform.  Note the similarity of the occlusal surface except for the flat versus concave surface on this new one.

 

[Peace river rat]

Cool beans, I have been digging dad gum near every day in arcadia since November. Finally found a sloth tooth(portion, including occlusal) I was stoked! Nice find ShellSeeker!

[Peace river rat]

You know, for such a big critter, they have really small teeth!

[Shellseeker]

10 hours ago, Peace river rat said:

You know, for such a big critter, they have really small teeth!

Thanks for the comments.  Sloth is a favorite,  I like finds better than Megs but both are really good.

I came across this excellent thread where Harry Pristis provides knowledge (very educational) on Sloth teeth, and may be addressing the Question #1 above and your comment about size. My tooth is broken at the tip. It might have been 4 inches long.

UPDATED:  Still working the Net with google searches,

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/the-anatomy-of-sloths/

Quote

Incisors are absent, and it is not really possible to distinguish between the similar premolars and molars. The living tree sloth Choloepus, as well as some mylodontids, megalonychids and nothrotheriids, possess caniniform teeth separated from the other teeth by a diastema. The upper caniniforms of these sloths are ahead of the lower caniniforms and, while some evidence suggests that the upper caniniform in Choloepus is a true canine, this probably isn’t the case for the lower caniniform. In the Pleistocene megalonychid Megalocnus from Cuba, and in certain other genera, the two most anterior upper jaw teeth have been described as ‘pseudorodentiform’ and are more incisiform than caniniform.

Sloth teeth lack enamel and are composed instead of two different kinds of dentine plus an outer layer of cementum, the softer dentine forming the innermost region of the tooth. When sloth teeth erupt they are devoid of the cusps and basins seen normally in mammalian teeth and are simple and cylindrical in form. As the teeth occlude against those in the opposite jaw, valleys and cusp-like structures are formed as the two kinds of dentine erode differentially (Naples 1989, 1995). Some fossil sloths had squarish or subrectangular teeth and, in these forms, transverse ridges between the valleys are particularly prominent.