Megatherium
Megatherium was a huge, bulky, slow-moving mammal that lived during the Pleistocene epoch in South America. It went extinct about 11,000 years ago. This ice-age mammal was the largest of the ground sloths; Megatherium's name means "great beast." Megatherium was named by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1856; the first Megatherium fossil was found in Argentina in 1789.
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| Skeleton of Megatherium americanum in the Natural History Museum, London | |
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| Genus: | †Megatherium Cuvier, 1796
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Megatherium Media
This specimen of M. americanum in Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, was the first prehistoric animal skeleton mounted, in 1795.
Megatherium americanum
Restoration of M. americanum by Robert Bruce Horsfall
Fossil of Megatherium, an extinct mammal- Took the picture at Museo di Paleontologia di Firenze
Megatherium claw [WHERE WAS THE PHOTO TAKEN?? Please confirm if it was at the Smithsonian.]
