ClipArt ETC
"Megatherium is a genus of extinct edentates, founded on a nearly complete skeleton discovered on the banks of the Lujan, about 9 miles from Buenos Ayres, and sent by the Marquis of Loretto, the viceroy, to the Royal Museum of Madrid. The best-known species was nearly as large as an elephant, though the limbs were shorter. Its mounted skeleton measures 18 feet in length, of which the tail occupies five. Dr. Leidy has described a smaller species from the post-Tertiary of Georgia and South Carolina; and there is a third, founded on remains from Brazil."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

Megatherium

"Megatherium is a genus of extinct edentates, founded on a nearly complete skeleton discovered on the…

This is a skeleton of the Megatherium. Megatheria were a group of elephant-sized ground sloths that lived from 2 million to 8,000 years ago. Their smaller ground sloth cousins were the Mylodon.

Megatherium

This is a skeleton of the Megatherium. Megatheria were a group of elephant-sized ground sloths that…

Megatherium ("Great Beast") was a genus of elephant-sized ground sloths that lived from two million to 8,000 years ago. A related genus was Nothrotheriops, which were primarily bear-sized ground sloths. The rhinoceros-sized Promegatherium is suggested to be the ancestor of Megatherium.

Megatherium Skeleton

Megatherium ("Great Beast") was a genus of elephant-sized ground sloths that lived from two million…

The fossilized skeleton of a Megatherium.

Fossil Megatherium

The fossilized skeleton of a Megatherium.

"Sloth is the popular name for any individual of the Edentate group Tardigrada, from their slow and awkward movements on the ground, owing to the peculiar structure of the wrist and ankle joints. The feet are armed with long claws, and turned toward the body, so that the animal is compelled to rest on the side of the hind foot, while the disproportionate length of the fore-limbs causes it to rest also on the elbows. It shuffles forward, alternately stretching the fore legs and hooking the claws into the ground, or grasping some object to draw itself along. Sloths are natives of South America, nocturnal in habit, and are found in the forests of that region, passing their lives among the branches of trees, on the leaves and young shoots of which they feed."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

Giant Sloth

"Sloth is the popular name for any individual of the Edentate group Tardigrada, from their slow and…