Megatherium
From LoveToKnow 1911
MEGATHERIUM (properly Megalotherium), a huge extinct edentate mammal from the Pleistocene deposits of Buenos Aires, typifying the family Megatheriidae (or Megalotheriidae), ...
Megatherium
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
(mgthr´m) [Gr.=large beast], extinct ground sloth, of the genus Megatherium, that was widely distributed in North and South America in the Pleistocene epoch.
Megatherium
Megatherium americanum
Weighing almost a much as an elephant, Megatherium must have been one of the most impressive animals to walk the Earth.
Meaning of scientific name
"giant beast" ...
MEGATHERIUM
(pronounced MEG-ah-THEER-ee-um) Megatherium was the largest giant ground sloth; its name means "great beast." Megatherium was a huge, bulky, slow-moving herbivore (plant-eater) with peg-like teeth, powerful jaws, and a thick, short tail.
The Megatherium Club Standing left, Robert Kennicott; standing right, Henry Ulke; seated left, William Stimpson; seated right, Henry Bryant, circa 1850s.
A skeleton of Megatherium with pathologically fused teeth was once mistakenly thought to be a new species.
Some examples of trauma and infections have been noted.
Giant Sloths?: Ancestors of present-day, tree-dwelling sloths included huge, ground-dwelling sloths such as Megatherium — one of the largest mammals to ever walk the earth.
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 See also: Sloth, Armadillo, Anteater, Elephant, Mammoth
  
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