ground sloth
Quick Summary
Ground sloths were extinct mammals that were part of a group that also included sloths, anteaters, glyptodonts, and armadillos. This group experienced significant evolutionary success in South America during the Cenozoic Era. The largest of these ground sloths was Megatherium, which was roughly the size of a modern elephant. These animals possessed large claws and teeth adapted for eating leaves from trees and bushes. Ground sloths made a brief appearance in North America during the Pleistocene Epoch, a period when a land bridge connected the Americas.1
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slothClassification and paleontology…Megalonychidae, whose extinct relatives, the ground sloths, once ranged into areas of North America as far north as Alaska and southern Canada. Different species of ground sloths varied greatly in size. Most were small, but one, the giant ground sloth (Megatherium americanum), was the size of an elephant; others were…
Read More…Megalonychidae, whose extinct relatives, the ground sloths, once ranged into areas of North America as far north as Alaska and southern Canada. Different species of ground sloths varied greatly in size. Most were small, but one, the giant ground sloth (Megatherium americanum), was the size of an elephant; others were…
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xenarthranPilosaSix families, primarily ground sloths, are extinct. The order Pilosa is further subdivided into the suborder Vermilingua, literally “worm-tongue,” which is descriptive of the long slender tongue of anteaters, and the suborder Phyllophaga, meaning “leaf-eater,” descriptive of the diet of sloths.
Read MoreSix families, primarily ground sloths, are extinct. The order Pilosa is further subdivided into the suborder Vermilingua, literally “worm-tongue,” which is descriptive of the long slender tongue of anteaters, and the suborder Phyllophaga, meaning “leaf-eater,” descriptive of the diet of sloths.
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