![]() ![]() Unlike their much smaller arboreal relatives, the modern two- and three-toed sloths (Choloepus and Bradypus spp.), the giant ground sloths were terrestrial, and skeletal evidence indicates that despite their massive size they were able to stand up on their hind legs using their stout tails for balance (Casinos, 1996). ![]() Next to a giant ground sloth, a 500-pound grizzly bear would seem puny in comparison. These creatures, weighing several tons, were some of the largest mammals ever to walk the earth. ![]() Several species of the genus Megatherium inhabited North and South America. The exact cause of the Late Pleistocene megaherbivore extinctions remains a matter of debate, but the timing of these extinctions, following so quickly upon the heels of man's arrival, suggests more than mere coincidence. Shortly after humans entered the scene, the giant sloths disappeared from the New World's cast of characters, as did mammoths (Mammuthus spp.), the big-horned Bison antiquus, and many other large mammals. Giant ground sloths (Megatherium and Ere-motherium spp.) roamed the Americas at the end of the last ice age. ![]()
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