Sebastián Tambusso

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• PhD
• PosDoc at Clemente Estable Biological Research Institute

Human-megafauna interaction in the Americas has great scientific and ethical interest because of its implications on Pleistocene extinction. The Arroyo del Vizcaíno site near Sauce, Uruguay has already yielded over 1000 bones belonging to at least 27 individuals, mostly of the giant sloth Lestodon. The assemblage shows some taphonomic features sugg...

Glyptodonts are a group of extinct xenarthrans with several anatomical features that make them one of the most bizarre groups of mammals. By the late 19th century, some authors began to analyze the brain of Pleistocene glyptodonts using natural endocranial casts. These studies revealed the small size of the brain of the large Pleistocene forms. How...

Sloths, like other xenarthrans, are an extremely interesting group of mammals that, after a long history of evolution and diversification in South America, became established on islands in the Caribbean and later reached North America during the Great American Biotic Interchange. In all three regions, they were part of the impressive Pleistocene me...

Extinct sloths (Xenarthra, Folivora) are morphologically diverse, despite some similarities among some Pleistocene genera. Cranial and diagnostic postcranial elements (especially limb bones) are taxonomically informative but the axial postcranial skeleton can prove difficult to classify, as in cases with only vertebral remains or when closely relat...

In recent years, the increase in studies on the inner ear anatomy of xenarthrans provided new insights regarding some locomotor and phylogenetic aspects. These works have begun to include fossil specimens, although so far, only two extinct representatives of the suborder Folivora (ground sloths) have been analyzed. In the present study, we present...

This dataset consists of 3D digital models of fossilised remains from the Pleistocene megafauna of Uruguay, now publicly available for scientists, educators, and the general public. The fossils, housed in collections across Uruguay, were digitised through photogrammetry, structured light, and CT scanning. The dataset includes models of extinct spec...

The Megafauna3D project integrates advanced 3D scanning technologies and paleontological research to bring the extinct megafauna of Uruguay to formal and informal educational settings. Through the use of digitized fossil models, interactive education materials, and a web platform, the project engages the public and educational institutions in under...

Nutrient foramina are small openings in the periosteal surface of the mid-shaft region of long bones that traverse the cortical layer and reach the medullary cavity. They are important for the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to bone tissue and are crucial for the repair and remodeling of bones over time. The nutrient foramina in the femur's diaphy...

Not so long ago, huge mammals weighing more than 1,000 kg existed practically all over the world. We call these giants the Pleistocene megafauna because they lived in a time period called the Pleistocene and were almost completely extinct around 11,700 years ago. These mammals lived on Earth for millions of years and were very important to almost a...

We report fossil mammal burrows from backshore beach facies in the Camacho Formation of southern Uruguay, of Late Miocene (Huayquerian SALMA) age. The presence of desiccation cracks and rhizoliths indicate the occurrence of relatively extended periods of subaerial exposure and the incipient development of vegetation. The analysis of the burrow's sp...

Besides manatees, the suspensory extant 'tree sloths' are the only mammals that deviate from a cervical count (CC) of seven vertebrae. They do so in opposite directions in the two living genera (increased versus decreased CC). Aberrant CCs seemingly reflect neck mobility in both genera, suggesting adaptive significance for their head position durin...

The analysis of stable isotopes on fossil mammals has become a widely used tool for understanding the paleoecology and paleodiet of these organisms. In this work, we study the stable isotope composition of collagen (δ13C and δ15N) and bioapatite (δ13C and δ18O) of fossil bones from Arroyo del Vizcaíno, a fossiliferous site in southern Uruguay dated...

Nutrient foramina are small openings in the periosteal surface of long bones that traverse the cortical layer and reach the medullary cavity. They are important for the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to bone tissue, and are crucial for the repair and remodeling of bones over time. The nutrient foramina in the femur's diaphysis are related to the...

Among evolutionary trends shaping phenotypic diversity over macroevolutionary scales, CREA (CRaniofacial Evolutionary Allometry) describes a tendency, among closely related species, for the smaller-sized of the group to have proportionally shorter rostra and larger braincases. Here, we used a phylogenetically broad cranial dataset, 3D geometric mor...

The present 3D Dataset contains the 3D models analyzed in 3D Finite Element Analysis and Geometric Morphometrics of Sloths (Xenarthra, Folivora) Mandibles Show Insights on the Dietary Specializations of Fossil Taxa. Journal of South American Earth Sciences. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2023.104445.

Sloths are represented today only by two distantly-related small, arboreal, and folivorous genera. However, the fossil record of the clade is composed of many more taxa, with much more diverse morphologies, including giant terrestrial forms with no clear modern analogs. In this context, several approaches have been implemented in order to explore t...

Sloths represent one of the most successful South American clades that reached North America during the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). At least four families are known from the Pleistocene of North America: Mylodontidae, Megalonychidae, Megatheriidae, and Nothrotheriidae. Members of the Nothrotheriidae are known from the Middle Miocene t...

With the excuse of writing a critique to Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. (2021, duly replied here: Domínguez-Rodrigo & Baquedano, 2022), Holcomb et al. (this volume) intend to deny the proposal that the Arroyo del Vizcaíno (AdV, Fariña et al. 2014) is a site with evidence of human presence in South America before the LGM. Among the flaws of their critique...

Xenarthrans, a largely endemic group originating in South America, constitute one of the four major clades of placental mammals. The order Cingulata is composed of extant and extinct xenarthrans that possess a carapace formed by dermal ossicles, i.e. armadillos, pampatheres and glyptodonts. Towards the end of the nineteenth century the study of nat...

¿Cómo caminaban los perezosos gigantes? ¿Son los gliptodontes los antepasados de las mulitas? ¿Viajaron los osos hasta el Río de la Plata? ¿Era un tigre el tigre dientes de sable? ¿Qué son los xenartros? ¿Y los notoungulados? ¿Por qué eran tan gigantes los mamíferos gigantes? ¿Y por qué se extinguieron? ¿Los humanos tuvimos algo que ver con su exti...

The extinct ‘Gomphotheriidae’ is the only proboscidean family that colonised South America. The phylogenetic position of the endemic taxa has been through several revisions using morphological comparisons. Morphological studies are enhanced by palaeogenetic analyses, a powerful tool to resolve phylogenetic relationships; however, aDNA preservation...

The earliest widely accepted presence of humans in America dates to approximately 17.5 cal kyr BP, at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Among other evidence, this presence is attested by stone tools and associated cut-marks and other bone surface modifications (BSM), interpreted as the result of the consumption of animals by humans. Claims...

The present 3D Dataset contains the 3D model analyzed in Presence of the ground sloth Valgipes bucklandi (Xe-narthra, Folivora, Scelidotheriinae) in southern Uruguay during the Late Pleistocene: Ecological and biogeographical implications. Quaternary International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.06.011.

Within the subfamily Scelidotheriinae, Valgipes bucklandi represents one of the least known taxa due to its scarce records and material found so far. This Pleistocene ground sloth had been registered only in Brazil, within the Brazilian Intertropical Region (BIR) in the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte and, more recently, o...

Here, we will address further criticisms in terms of the weakness and the strength of our proposal that the AdV is more than a particularly rich paleontological site, and our consequent intent to take it from a possible archaeological site to a probable one. In doing this, we are attempting to make progress in the central debate about the AdV and t...

The Arroyo del Vizcaíno collection began informally in 1997, when a group of high school students, teachers and other members of the community extracted around 300 bones from the Vizcaíno stream. Efforts were made by the students to prepare, catalogue and identify the remains, as well as to try to keep the remains in their hometown. The collection...

The inhibitory cascade (IC) represents a developmental model that explains the evolution of molar relative sizes, originally described in rodents but later validated in several mammalian groups. The IC comprises signalling molecules produced by the first molar buds that inhibit the development of subsequent molars and molecules from surrounding tis...

In this article, we present various activities shared with the community based on scientific knowledge related to the Arroyo del Vizcaíno site in Uruguay. This site, located on the outskirts of the city of Sauce, presents thousands of fossil bones of extinct giant mammals and evidence of pos-sible human presence. Since its discovery, the local comm...

Species distribution models (SDMs) are helpful for understanding actual and potential biogeographical traits of organisms. These models have recently started to be applied in the study of fossil xenarthrans. SDMs were generated for 15 South American late Pleistocene xenarthrans: eight Cingulata (Glyptodon clavipes, Doedicurus clavicaudatus, Panocht...

Megafauna 3D is a fossil digitization initiative and an educational project that aims to engage general audiences with paleontology by using 3D models and replicas of fossils of the giant mammals that inhabited South America until about 10,000 years and coexisted with humans. The project includes an online viewing platform of 3D models, interactive...

The anatomy, osteology and biomechanics of the extremities of the terrestrial sloths (Xenarthra, Folivora) have been studied as examples of their particular characteristics not found in other mammals. In this work, we describe the bones of the hind foot of Lestodon armatus Gervais, 1855, the most represented sloth genus in the fossil record of Urug...

A previous study reported the fusion of spinous processes of thoracic vertebrae one and two in the ground sloth Glossotherium, proposing an injury or a congenital deformation as possible causes. In this paper we examined members of four families of Pleistocene sloths (Mylodontidae, Megatheriidae, Nothrotheriidae and Megalonychidae) to document the...

The following information is missing from the Funding section: Grant name: Using Fossil Proteomics for Resolving Phylogenetics of Extinct Mammalian Orders in Ancient Biodiversity Hotspots Principal. Investigator: Dr M Buckley, The University of Manchester, Life Sciences. Grant held at: The University of Manchester, Life Sciences. NERC Reference: NE...

For over 200 years, fossils of bizarre extinct creatures have been described from the Ameri-cas that have ranged from giant ground sloths to the 'native' South American ungulates, groups of mammals that evolved in relative isolation on South America. Ground sloths belong to the South American xenarthrans, a group with modern although morphologicall...

The hyoid apparatus in fossil Xenarthrans is rarely preserved. Its largest bone, the stylohyal, is the most frequently found as an isolated element. It is known for some species of Pleistocene ground sloths (Megalonyx jeffersonii, Megatherium americanum, Paramylodon harlani, Nothrotheriops shastensis, Glossotherium robustum and Scelidotherium lepto...

The hyoid apparatus in fossil Xenarthrans is rarely preserved. Its largest bone, the stylohyal, is the most frequently found as an isolated element. It is known for some species of Pleistocene ground sloths (Megalonyx jeffersonii, Megatherium americanum, Paramylodon harlani, Nothrotheriops shastensis, Glossotherium robustum and Scelidotherium lepto...

The diversity of the order Cingulata is much higher in the fossil record than that represented by the extant species. While pampatheres, one of its extinct groups, are superficially similar to armadillos, recent phylogenetic analysis grouped them with glyptodonts in the clade Glyptodonta. We describe here the first digital endocranial cast of a pam...

In Farina et al . [[1][1]], we claimed that a rich fossiliferous locality, Arroyo del Vizcaino (hereafter, AdV), with marked bones that are much older than widely accepted for human presence in the Americas, deserved ‘to be included in the agenda of early American peopling, either as a not

Approximately 70% of penalty kicks in men’s professional football are scored, hence being decisive in increasing the chances of winning, since matches have only 2.5 goals on average. This study assesses the improving chances for the goalkeeper to save penalty kicks, using actual shot speeds in computer simulation and considering actual and experime...