What was Megatherium? | Natural History Museum

Megatherium americanum is the scientific name for an extinct species of giant ground sloth. The name means 'great beast from America'. Acceptcookies? Weusecookies togiveyouthebestonlineexperience.Weusethemtoimproveourwebsiteandcontent,andtotailorourdigitaladvertisingonthird-partyplatforms.Youcanchangeyourpreferencesatanytime.  Managemypreferences Yes,acceptall Skiptocontent Discover Discover News Anthropocene BritishWildlife Collections Dinosaurs Humanevolution Oceans WhatonEarth? Video ReconstructionofMegatheriumamericanum ©MauricioAnton Readlater Close Beta DuringBeta testingarticlesmayonlybesavedforsevendays. Createalistofarticlestoreadlater.YouwillbeabletoaccessyourlistfromanyarticleinDiscover. Youdon'thaveanysavedarticles. +addcurrent articletolist COLLECTIONS WhatwasMegatherium? ByPipBrewer Firstpublished22November2018 0 ThefinaltwospecimensofDarwin'sfossilmammalstohavebeenscannedbelongedtoanextinctgiantgroundsloth. InthelatestupdatetothedigitisationofDarwin'sfossilmammalsproject,researchershaveuploadedthespecimensofMegatheriumcollectedbyDarwinontheVoyageoftheBeagleinthe1830s. TheMegatheriumfossilsaretwohalvesofthesameskull, oneheldattheRoyalCollegeofSurgeonsofEnglandMuseumandtheotheratDownHouse(lookedafterbyEnglishHeritage).Thefossilsconfirmedthat,despiteweighinguptofourtonnes,theextinctanimalswereindeedrelatedtomodern-daysloths.  ButwhatactuallywasMegatherium? Megatheriumamericanumisthescientificnameforanextinctspeciesofgiantgroundsloth.The namemeans'greatbeastfromAmerica'. Discoveredin1787byManuelTorresinArgentina,thefirstM. americanumfossilswereshippedtotheMuseoNacionaldeCienciasinMadrid,wheretheoriginalskeletonisstillondisplay. Alivingthree-toedsloth ©ChristianMehlführer/WikimediaCommonsCCBY2.5 Presentdayslothsarerelativelysmallmammals.Theyarelessthanametreinlength,averagearound5kginweightandspendmostoftheirtimesuspendedfrombranchesintrees.TheyarecurrentlyrestrictedtoSouthandCentralAmerica. Slothsarenotablefortheirlowenergylevelsandslow,deliberatemovements(hencetheirname).TheyarepartofalargergroupknownastheXenarthra,whichincludestheirdistantrelativesthearmadillosandanteaters.  Incontrasttothepresentday,mostextinctslothslivedonthegroundandsomeweremanytimeslargerthanmoderntreesloths. ThefullMegatheriumskeletoncastondisplayintheMuseumonFossilWayshowsjusthowtalltheyoncestood ©TheTrusteesoftheNaturalHistoryMuseum,London Megatherium americanum wasupto10timesthesizeoflivingslothsreachingweightsofuptofourtonnes(similartoa presentday bullelephant).Onitshindlegs, M. americanum wouldhavestoodafull3.5 metres (12feet)tall. Megatherium americanum isknownfromArgentina,Uruguay and Bolivia.FossilsoftheanimalshavebeenfoundindepositsdatingfromtheMiddlePleistocene(around400,000yearsago)tothebeginningoftheHolocene(around8,000yearsago). Weknowthatthey overlappedwithhumansintimeas Megatherium fossilshavebeenfoundwithcutmarksonthem,suggestingthatthesegiantslothswereonthemenuthousandsofyearsago. AtrackwayofeightMegatheriumfootstepsintheforeground,withanothertrackwayofasmallgroundslothinthebackground ©DrTeresaManera Despiteitsmagnificentclaws,M.americanumwasavegetarian.Thishasbeenconfirmedthroughchemicalanalysisofitsteethwhichrecordwhatitateduringlife. Itwasabletostandandwalkonitshindlegs,makingitthelargestbipedalmammalofalltime. FootprintsattributedtoM.americanumdatingtoaround14,000yearsoldhavebeenfoundinArgentina,just40kmfromasitewheretheyoungCharlesDarwincollectedtheremainsofthisanimalbetween1832and1833.  ThesespecimenscollectedbyDarwinarehistoricallyandscientificallyimportant,butalsoveryfragilemeaningthatphysicalaccesstothesespecimenshashadtoberestrictedtoprotectthespecimensfromfurtherdamage. 3Dsurfacescanningthesespecimenshelpsustoincreaseaccessandprotectthefossilsforfuturegenerations ©TheTrusteesoftheNaturalHistoryMuseum,London Bycreatingandopenlyreleasing3DversionsofMegatheriumspecimens'ontheMuseum’sDataPortalwehopetoincreaseaccessanduseofthespecimensonline. TheMegatheriumfossilscanswilljointhoseoftheToxodonspecimens-scannedandreleasedearlierthisyear-intheDarwinFossilMammalsDatasetontheMuseum’sportal.Theywillalsobereleasedon3DmodelplatformSketchfab.  39 Collections Extinction Fossils Prehistoric Relatedinformation Followuson@NHM_Digitseand@NHMFossilMammaltohearmoreabouttheMuseum'sdigitisationofits80millionspecimens. DatafromtheMegatheriumscansareonthe Museum'sdataportal andSketchfab. FindoutmoreaboutDigitisingDarwin'sFossilMammals.  Tellushowyouwouldliketousethesemodelsbyemailingdigitalcollections@nhm.ac.uk. OndisplayattheMuseum It'sondisplayintheFossilMarineReptilesgallery. Takemethere Digitalcollectionsblog Catchupwiththelatestdigitisationtechniquesandtechnology. Followtheblog Explorethecollections Fromgiantfossilmammalstomysteriousmoths,uncoverthecolourfulstoriesbehindsomeoftheMuseum'smostfascinatingspecimens. Uncovermore Makeadonation £5couldhelpustobuymaterialstolookafterspecimens £15couldhelpustorestoreaterracottamonkeyinHintzeHall £20couldhelpustodigitiseamammal,bird,amphibian,reptileorfishspecimen £50couldhelpustosecureararespecimenforresearch £100couldhelpustokeepadinosaurfossilsafeforfuturegenerations Selectamounttodonate £5 £15 £20 £50 £100 Orenteranotheramount £ Donate Relatedposts News Darwin'sgiantgroundslothskullpiecedtogetherandscannedforthefirsttime Halfoftheskullwaslostforoveracentury.  23November2018 Collections WhatwasToxodon? ThislargeextinctmammalprovedapuzzleforCharlesDarwinwhenhefirstcameacrossit. Collections ThegiantfossilmammalsthatinspiredCharlesDarwin'stheoryofevolution Inthe1830s,DarwinmadeaseriesofdiscoveriesinSouthAmerica:themysteriousremainsofextinctmammals. 9April2018 Collections CharlesDarwin:history'smostfamousbiologist CharlesRobertDarwin(1809-1882)transformedthewayweunderstandthenaturalworldwithideasthat,inhisday,werenothingshortofrevolutionary. 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