![]() Natives tell stories of a large beast that’s seven feet tall with matted fur and long claws. No, giant sloths have died out, but some people suggest they may still live in the South American rainforest! Are Giant Sloths Still Alive? South American rainforest natives tell stories of a large beast (the giant sloth) seven feet tall with matted fur and long claws. The giant sloth picture heavily emphasizes its long claws and small head. The rock art is 11,880 to 12,600 years old, putting it at the end of the last ice age. Researchers think that cave art found in the Colombian Amazon depicts a giant sloth alongside other ice age animals. The heel and outside foot took the giant sloth’s weight. Interestingly, its long claws meant it probably waddled as it walked, and paleontologists have discovered a modification in its feet to counterbalance them. It was so long that it could reach three meters up into leafy trees, using its tail to balance as it pulled branches down with its long claws. This might not sound large compared to dinosaurs, for example, but during the Ice Age, it was one of the largest animals around. These giants weighed 4 tons and were 20 feet (6 meters) long from head to tail. Giant sloths had pointed faces and prehensile tongues, which meant they could wrap it around selected foliage. The largest Megatherium Americanum was elephant-sized and one of the largest land animals to ever exist. They probably looked similar to our modern sloths, but much bigger. Fossilized remains of the species Parocnus from Cuba have been carbon-dated to around 5,000 years ago, and the small ground sloth from Spain, which lasted a bit longer, at 4,500 years. Some scientists believe giant sloths held out for longer on islands and places uninhabited by humans. This means it was from 400,000 years ago and died out around 8,000 years ago. The fossil record indicates that the giant sloth lived in the Middle Pleistocene until the Holocene era. Ten thousand years ago is the date most scientists work to. When Did The Giant Sloth Go Extinct? The fossil record indicates that the giant sloth lived in the Middle Pleistocene until the Holocene era. It dates to around 12,600 BP (that’s before the present), and it’s the only proof we have for sure that humans hunted giant sloths. In Argentina, there’s a preserved giant sloth kill site with human/sloth tracks and marks of human butchery on the giant sloth’s bones. ![]() They also had to contend with human hunting. Its name means ‘the great beast from America.’ This giant lived in South America and migrated to North America, grazing its way through grasslands and lightly wooded areas near lakes and rivers.Īs the climate warmed up and it got wetter, the forests became thicker, and the giant sloths’ food sources disappeared. There were several species of giant sloths, but the largest was Megatherium Americanum. The giant sloth Megatherium is most likely extinct due to climate change and human hunting, but scientists don’t know for sure. Let’s look at what happened during that time to answer the question, ‘Why did the giant sloth go extinct?’ Why Did The Giant Sloth Go Extinct? Most likely, giant sloths went extinct because the climate changed, and humans hunted them. They included giant sloths, dire wolves, mastodons, woolly mammoths, and many others. Around 10,000 years ago, a whole host of megafauna animals became extinct at the end of the last ice age. ![]()
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