Fossils Of 27,000-Year-Old Giant Sloth Found In Belize
Julie McMahon, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignA size comparison depicting an average adult man with the giant, 13-foot sloth.
In 2014, divers in a sinkhole in Clara Blanca, Belize found 27,000-year-old fossils of a giant ground sloth.
The sloth was estimated to have weighed 14,400 pounds while standing 13 feet tall and being up to 20 feet long. As the image above shows, that’s quite an intimidating creature for an early human to come face to face with.
The study published in the Science Advances journal explored both how this species inhabited its environment and how scientists could learn from this fossil discovery in the future.
“In the process, we discovered which part of the tooth had best maintained its integrity for analysis,” said Jean T. Larmon, graduate student and lead researcher on the project. “And we refined methods for studying similar specimens in the future.”
The project used a new process that allowed for more accurate analysis than ever before. It involved using tissue and tooth fragments in isotopic analysis, which told experts the “monthly and seasonal changes in the sloth’s diet and climate for the first time.”
They found that this creature lived through long seasons or dryness, which contradicted the previous consensus that it was more of a forest-dwelling animal and preferred a diet of plants.
“We were able to see that this huge, social creature was able to adapt rather readily to the dry climate, shifting its sustenance to relying upon what was more available or palatable,” Larmon explained.
The study also found that human encroachment was likely a key factor in the animal’s extinction. On the bright side, we now know significantly more about the creature, and our effect on animals like it, than we ever did before.
