Despite the ubiquity of parasitism, the knowledge regarding fossil parasites remains fragmentary. As an example, South American clade Xenarthra was a predominant group of mammals during the Cenozoic; however, its paleoparasitological knowledge has many gaps, with only a few reports in armadillos and fewer in ground sloths. Darwin’s ground sloth (Mylodon darwini) was a mega mammal widely distributed in the Neotropics; however, its parasitic fauna is poorly known with the sole report of unidentified nematode eggs. Thus, this study aimed to determine additional host-parasite associations and to discuss its possible role as a reservoir of zoonotic parasites. Fifty-two coprolites from Cueva del Milodón Natural Monument were analyzed through coprological analysis to determine the presence of parasites. From these, 18 (34.62%) coprolites had parasitic helminth eggs belonging to 6 taxa: Calodium sp., Ascaridida, Hymenolepididae, Anoplocephalidae, Taeniidae, and Digenea. All these findings are new records for this sloth; also, two of them, Calodium sp. and Anoplocephalidae, have represented a risk for the health of ancient humans. Eggs of Calodium were similar to those previously isolated from ancient humans in Patagonia. Thus, Darwin’s ground sloth has represented a potential reservoir of zoonotic helminths, which is interesting considering this species was in close contact with humans in ancient Patagonia. Thus, additional collaboration with paleontologists is highlighted considering the incipient development of paleoparasitology in Chile, which could elucidate the presence of important pathogens, contributing to a better understanding of the evolution and changes in the distribution and virulence of certain parasites through time.

尽管寄生虫无处不在，但有关化石寄生虫的知识仍然不完整。例如，南美进化枝 Xenarthra 是新生代的主要哺乳动物群。然而，它的古寄生虫学知识有很多空白，在犰狳中的报道很少，在地树懒中的报道较少。达尔文的地懒（Mylodon darwini)是一种广泛分布于新热带地区的大型哺乳动物；然而，它的寄生动物群知之甚少，唯一的报告是不明线虫卵。因此，本研究旨在确定其他宿主 - 寄生虫关联，并讨论其作为人畜共患寄生虫储存库的可能作用。通过粪便学分析对来自 Cueva del Milodón 自然纪念碑的 52 种粪便进行了分析，以确定寄生虫的存在。其中，18 (34.62%) 条粪虫具有寄生蠕虫卵，属于 6 个分类群：Calodium sp.、蛔虫纲、Hymenolepididae、Anoplocephalidae、Taeniidae 和 Digenea。所有这些发现都是这种树懒的新记录；此外，其中两个，Calodium sp。和 Anoplocephalidae，代表了古代人类健康的风险。鸡蛋Calodium类似于以前从巴塔哥尼亚的古代人类中分离出来的那些。因此，达尔文的地懒代表了一个潜在的人畜共患蠕虫库，考虑到该物种在古代巴塔哥尼亚与人类密切接触，这一点很有趣。因此，考虑到智利古寄生虫学的初期发展，强调了与古生物学家的额外合作，这可以阐明重要病原体的存在，有助于更好地了解某些寄生虫的分布和毒力随时间的演变和变化。