I should start off this post by saying, ‘Please don’t be frightened by the beast you are about to see.’ Why? Well, he’s dead. And he’s been dead for a very long time. Behold! The Giant Sloth!
Why am I showing you just a bunch of bones? Well, like I said, he’s been dead for a
very, very long time. These are the fossil remains of the now extinct Megatherium americanum. Even his scientific name is of giant proportions. That’s me standing beside him and I’m just a hair under 2 meters (77 inches). This beast easily stood at 3 meters (almost 10 feet). It is calculated that when he used to roam the fields of Tarija, he probably weighed about 4 metric tons (8800 lbs.). But don’t worry. He’s just a sloth, right? If you and I were there in prehistoric times, we could have run circles around him! And of course he was an herbivore, so he only ate herbs. Of course if your name is Herb, mmmm, you probably would have kept your distance just in case.
It was supposedly discovered by an 11-year-old boy in Tarija, Bolivia. Can you imagine being a kid and discovering this?! What kid wouldn’t want to find dinosaur bones in his backyard? That was probably the best day of his life!
The Giant Sloth is just one example of numerous fossils of prehistoric fauna that have been found in and around Tarija, Bolivia. The Museum of Paleontology near the city center in Tarija has him on display. And there’s plenty more to see, including a mammoth complete with both tusks and also an armadillo the size of a pony. So if you’re in the area, come and check them out! But don’t worry... they’re dead too.
Thank you for the education! Very interesting and thankful we were in existence back then.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I personally would have loved to have seen this animal up close. Who knows... maybe one day we will!
Deletei wanna see the armadillo! You guys sure are exploring the area. Fun!- Crabby abbi
ReplyDeleteThe armadillo fossil is now officially on our unofficial blog request list. We'll post some details about it someday. It is a sight to behold!
DeleteI just watched a program about sloths. They have poor muscle strength, thought so because of what they eat, and thus can only move SLOWLY. Two scientists climbed a tree to bring one down, and you would have thought he was a pet. Strange green stuff on their fur. So yes, we probably could have run circles around the 10 foot sloth in the museum.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment! We recently had a close encounter with a real live modern-day sloth in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We plan to post an entry about him soon.
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