Millions of years ago, the vast expanses of the earth belonged to animals, the appearance of which modern man can hardly imagine, because they have died out long ago, leaving behind only the remains by which scientists painstakingly restore their appearance and habits. Once upon a time among giant greenery of South and North America, giant sloths of megateria roamed. Gigantic animals the size of two elephants ate succulent leaves from the tops of trees. A giant sloth got greens without difficulty, rising on his hind legs. The modern relative of this giant, in comparison with it, seems to be a tiny fur lump hanging from a tree branch.
Finds of researchers and discoveries of scientists
For the first time, the remains of a giant sloth were discovered by Spanish colonists in 1789 on the territory of Argentina, near Buenos Aires. The indigenous people of Patagonia thought that the bones belong to a huge mole. According to local legend, one day he got out of the ground and was killed by sunlight.
Viceroy of the Spanish colony of the Marquis Loreto immediately sent the bones to Madrid. In the capital, the researcher Jose Garriga took up the research of the remains of the “mole”. Already in 1796, he published a scientific work in which he described an ancient extinct animal.
Garriga compared him to an elephant, because the size of the South American beast was not inferior to him at all. However, his paws with huge feet were longer and heavier than elephants, and the shape of the skull, as the scientist noted in his work, resembled the head of a sloth.
Due to its impressive size, the animal was called "megaterium", which means "huge beast." So he was called naturalist Georges Cuvier, looking at the images of the skeleton that the Spaniards sent to the Paris Academy of Sciences. The French scientist, like Jose Garriga, recognized in the unknown beast the ancestor of the modern sloth.
The general hype around an extinct animal
Finds of researchers and discoveries of scientists have become a real sensation in Europe. Then the great German poet I.V. Goethe devoted a whole essay to the giant sloth. Museums, in order to get his skeleton, were ready to give up their entire annual budget. And the king of Spain, Carlos IV, demanded to bring this animal to Madrid. Moreover, the ruler did not care whether it was alive or dead. He naively believed that the New World, as America was then called, was still inhabited by megaterians.
The excitement around them did not subside until the middle of the XIX century, when the remains of dinosaurs were found. During this time, many researchers have visited Patagonia. In addition to the bones of megateria, its traces were found on the muddy banks of rivers, litter, the remains of skin and hair in the caves. Thanks to the cold and dry climate of Patagonia, the remains are well preserved, which allowed paleontologists not only to recreate the appearance of the ancient beast, but also to describe its habits and diet.
The appearance of a giant sloth megateria
The giant sloth megaterium reached a height of three meters. Moreover, the growth of the animal doubled when it rose to its hind legs. A gigantic beast weighing four tons in this position was twice as high as an elephant. This is partly due to the length of the body of the sloth, which was six meters.
Thick matter covered Megateria, and under it was extremely thick skin. The skin of a giant sloth was strengthened by small bone plaques. Such a cover made megateria almost invulnerable. Even such a dangerous beast as a saber-toothed tiger could not harm him.
The giant sloth had a wide basin, powerful legs with crescent-shaped claws reaching a length of 17 cm, and an unusually thick tail that reached the very ground.
The head of the animal was small in comparison with the massive body, and its muzzle had an elongated shape.
How did giant sloths move?
Megaterium did not climb trees like his modern descendant. Charles Darwin, who examined his remains in the 18th century, noted this feature of the animal in one of his works. It seemed to him an absurd idea of the existence of plants capable of withstanding such a giant.
Professor Richard Owen also participated in the study of the remains brought by Darwin from Patagonia to England. It was he who suggested that megaterium moved on the earth. When walking, a giant sloth like a modern anteater did not lean on the whole foot, but on its edge, so as not to cling to the ground with claws. Because of this, he moved slowly and a little awkwardly.
Modern scientists say that megaterium could walk on its hind legs. Thus, biomechanical studies conducted by A. Casino in 1996 showed that the structure of the skeleton allowed the giant sloth to move exclusively on them. However, the upright posture of this beast to this day remains a controversial issue in the world of science.
Features nutrition megateria
Megaterium belonged to not-toothed mammals and fed mainly on vegetation. The structure of its upper jaw indicates that the beast possessed a long upper lip of impressive size, characteristic of herbivores of the animal world.
A giant ground sloth rose on its hind legs, pulled the branches of trees to itself, cut off succulent leaves, as well as young shoots and ate them. His wide basin, massive feet and a thick long tail served him as a support and allowed, without effort, to feast on the greens. Until recently, scientists were convinced that the sloth tore off the leaves with an unusually long tongue. However, modern studies have shown that the structure of his jaw prevented the formation of muscles that could hold him.
In addition to the foliage of trees, megaterium also ate root crops. He tore them from the ground, using his long claws.
Could megaterium be a predator?
Megaterium was supposed to be partially carnivorous. The scientist M. S. Bargo conducted in 2001 a study of the dental apparatus of a giant sloth. It showed that he ate not only vegetable, but also meat. The molars of the animal had a triangular shape and were sharp enough at the edges. With their help, a giant sloth was able to chew not only leaves, but also meat. Perhaps he added variety to his diet, eating carrion, taking prey from predators, or hunting himself.
Megaterium had rather short elbow processes, due to which his forelimbs became unusually agile. A similar feature is mainly carnivorous animals. Thus, megaterium possessed sufficient power and speed to attack, for example, glyptodonts. In addition, the results of biomechanical analysis showed that the giant sloth could use his long claws as a weapon in battles with other animals. Nevertheless, many scientists find the idea of the carnivore of this beast extremely doubtful.
The lifestyle of an ancient beast
Regardless of whether megaterium was aggressive or not, he had no enemies. A massive animal could move through forests and fields without fear for its life, day and night.
Giant sloths, according to many scientists, strayed into small groups. There is an opposite point of view, according to which these animals were single and settled separately in secluded caves, and heterosexual individuals were next to each other only during the period of mating and raising offspring.
When did megateria appear and where did they live?
As shown by radiocarbon analysis of the remains, now extinct mammals appeared on Earth about two million years ago, in the Pliocene era. Initially, giant sloths inhabited the meadow and wooded parts of South America. Later they were able to adapt to areas with an arid climate. Researchers found animal bones not only in Argentina, but also in Bolivia, Peru and Chile. Some megateria supposedly migrated to North America. This is evidenced by the remains of giant sloths discovered on the continent.
Possible causes of extinction of ancient animals
These fossil animals survived to the Pleistocene and became extinct about 8000 years ago. Scientists still argue about why this happened. Many believe that animals could not endure climate change. However, the fact that megateria over the course of thousands of years successfully adapted to new conditions indicates a different reason for their extinction, namely the appearance on the mainland of a man who mercilessly exterminated shaggy giants, hunting for their skins. Perhaps because of the ancestors of the ancient Indians, megateria became extinct. However, a sharp decrease in the population and subsequent disappearance of the species could be affected by both factors at once.
Legends of surviving megateria
With science, legends come into dispute that a gigantic beast, the remains of which were once found by the Spaniards who explored the New World, is still alive. Like a mythical snowman, he hides from human eyes. Rumor has it that giant sloths settled at the foot of the modern Andes. Of course, the version that the ancient extinct animal still walks through the expanses of South America is unconvincing, but this romantic idea excites the imagination of people, forcing them to look for irrefutable evidence of their own truth.