Megatherium

Skeleton of Megatherium americanum at the Natural History Museum, Paris

• USA
• Central America
• South America

Megatherium was a big elephant, glacial giant sloth of South America. It died out at the end of the Pleistocene. Major sites are, for example, in Patagonia.

Appearance

This giant sloth reached a total length of up to 6 meters and probably brought a weight of about three tons on the scale. This made it the largest genus, each produced the sloths. In contrast to today's sloths it was a bottom dweller who could probably move slowly because of its bulky shape. To keep the balance, the animals were based during the upright position on its massive tail.

Dissemination

Megatherium developed in the late Pliocene in South America and even survived the wave of immigration from North American species that fell at the beginning of the Pleistocene on the South American fauna and wiped out many native species on the continent. Only at the very end of the Pleistocene Megatherium died out as some other large animal species in America. Around this time the first humans migrated one to South America, what the suspicion suggests that they exterminated Megatherium and the other giant sloths by hunting. Remains of Megatherium have been found in Patagonia and some Andean valleys of Bolivia and Peru.

Way of life

Megatherium was probably a leaf -eater who could, thanks to its powerful jaw muscles and its enormous size safely chew and smaller branches. To reach the leaves of tall trees, it apparently on his hind legs and pulled the branches with the clawed forefeet down to him. Due to this way of life, it was probably dependent on wooded habitats and probably lacked in open steppe areas. By now dry and cold climate in Patagonia even the intestinal bacteria could be determined in well-preserved dung of these animals. Megatherium populated in contrast to similar Eremotherium the cooler, southern areas of South America and the mountainous regions. Eremotherium was another giant sloth genus and lived at the same time as Megatherium in northern South America and Florida.