Editing Mylodon (section)

=== Predation and Parasites ===
Especially in southern and southwestern Patagonia, numerous bone changes in finds of ''Mylodon'' can be proven to be caused by predatory animals. This includes, above all, the remains from the Cueva del Milodón in southwestern Chile. Some caves in their immediate vicinity, such as Cueva Lago Sofía 4 and Cueva Chica, are interpreted as clumps of predators.<ref name="borreroetal1997">{{cite journal |last1=Borrero |first1=Luis Alberto |last2=Martín |first2=Fabiana M. |last3=Prieto |first3=Alfredo |title=La cueva Lago Sofía 4, Ultima Esperanza, Chile: una madriguera de felino del pleistoceno tardío |trans-title=Lago Sofía 4 cave, Ultima Esperanza, Chile: a feline burrow from the late Pleistocene |language=es |journal=Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia. Serie Ciencias Humanas |date=1997 |volume=25 |pages=103–122 }}</ref><ref name="Martin et al. 2013"/> The same applies to the Cueva del Puma or the Cueva Fell in the Pali-Aike area of southern Chile. Some of the caves mainly contain smaller skeletal elements such as hand and foot bones or bone plates, which indicate that only part of the carcass was carried into the shelter. Whether this is the result of direct foraging or scavenging cannot be determined in many cases. Other caves, in turn, contained a larger proportion of young ''Mylodon'' animals.<ref name="martin2008">{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Fabiana M. |title=Bone-Crunching Felids at the End of the Pleistocene in Fuego-Patagonia, Chile. |journal=Journal of Taphonomy |date=2008 |volume=6 |issue=3–4 |pages=337–372 }}</ref><ref name=Borrero2009/> The largest predators occurring at that time are the [[Puma (genus)|puma]] and the [[jaguar]], as well as the saber-toothed cat ''[[Smilodon populator]]'' and the extinct bear ''[[Arctotherium]]''. The latter two could have reconstructed body weights of over 400 kg, with prey sizes between 1 and 2 t being assumed for the saber-toothed cat, which makes ''Smilodon'' a likely predator of ''Mylodon''.<ref name="manzuettietal2020">{{cite journal |last1=Manzuetti |first1=Aldo |last2=Perea |first2=Daniel |last3=Jones |first3=Washington |last4=Ubilla |first4=Martín |last5=Rinderknecht |first5=Andrés |title=An extremely large saber-tooth cat skull from Uruguay (late Pleistocene–early Holocene, Dolores Formation): body size and paleobiological implications |journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology |date=2 April 2020 |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=332–339 |doi=10.1080/03115518.2019.1701080 |bibcode=2020Alch...44..332M |s2cid=216505747 }}</ref><ref name="martin2008"/><ref name=Borrero2009/><ref name="prevostietal2013">{{cite journal |last1=Prevosti |first1=Francisco J. |last2=Martin |first2=Fabiana M. |title=Paleoecology of the mammalian predator guild of Southern Patagonia during the latest Pleistocene: Ecomorphology, stable isotopes, and taphonomy |journal=Quaternary International |date=August 2013 |volume=305 |pages=74–84 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2012.12.039 |bibcode=2013QuInt.305...74P |hdl=11336/84524 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

In various coprolites produced by ''Mylodon'', eggs of [[nematodes]] are preserved. The eggs are ovaloid in shape with lengths of almost 50 μm in length and 29 μm in thickness.<ref name="ringuelet1957">{{cite journal |last1=Ringuelet |first1=Raúl A. |title=Restos de probables huevos de nematodes en el estiercol del edentado extinguido Mylodon listai (Ameghino) |trans-title=Remains of probable nematode eggs in the manure of the extinct edentulous Mylodon Listai (Ameghino) |journal=Ameghiniana |date=1957 |volume=1 |issue=1–2 |pages=15–16 |url=https://www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/ameghiniana/article/view/1084 |language=es }}</ref> In addition, individual beetles could be detected.<ref name="Borrero & Martin 2012"/>