The first remains of
Brievabradys were discovered in the
Honda Group of
Colombia, in the strata of the
Tatacoa Desert in the
Huila Department with an approximate age of 13 to 11 million years ago, dating to the Middle
Miocene. The remains of this genus had already been known for some time, but their similarity to other members of the superfamily Mylodontoidea had led to the first referred cranial remains which were not as complete as the
holotype of
Brievabradys, being identified as the Argentine genus
Glossotheriopsis. Later examinations would show that despite their general resemblance, they had different characteristics, especially in the shortening of the snout, wider and lower nostrils and differences in the characteristics of their molariform teeth. These characteristics, according to the original publication, indicate that
Brievabradys and
Glossotheriopsis belong to the subfamily Mylodontinae of the family Mylodontidae, both being related in turn to the species
Orophodon hapaloides. The generic name, Brievabradys, is derived from "Brieva", referring to two scholars of the
National University of Colombia, the brothers Eduardo and Jorge E. Brieva, and
bradys meaning "slow" or "lazy", while the specific name refers to the La Venta creek, from where the name of the entire fossil deposit comes from, where it coexisted with other sloths such as the
nothrotheriid Huilabradys and the mylodontid
Magdalenabradys. == References ==