Megatherium fossils were first discovered in Argentina in 1788 by archaeologist Manuel Torres. Then, biologist Charles Darwin, while traveling in 1830 on the ship HMS Beagle (where Darwin made the voyages that formed the basis of his theory of evolution) in 1830, this animal was discovered. to fossils came across, confirming the authenticity of megatherium.

this is live 4 tons It is an animal that weighs 6 meters and lived in South America. One of the details that make him interesting is that he is extraordinary lazy it is a living thing. So what kind of animal is megatherium exactly?

This animal is also called “the giant beast from America”.

Megatherium, who lived on Earth after the dinosaurs largest land animal category. This animal had a fairly solid skeletal structure. Their hind legs are short, but the bone structure in their legs is quite strong. Scientists say that the strength of this creature’s lower body also supports the upper body.

The upper body of this animal is also very robust and flexible at the same time. Because its arms are also long and strong, this animal can lower the leaves of trees to mouth level. Inspired by commonly found fossils, a megatherium it can be said that the painters depicted it as a large and shaggy animal standing on its legs.

Although he is often drawn like this in paintings, archaeologists say he appears to be on all fours when walking long distances or resting. Megatherium already has big claws on hands and feet, and it ain’t straight either, squat It shows that you are walking.

sloth

Most people might expect such a large animal to show strength, but on the contrary, it doesn’t even have the energy to stand up. In fact, it can be considered the slowest animal in the ecosystem. Also by scientists sloths We can say that he is considered his ancestor. Sloths still alive today are generally small mammals, less than 1 meter long and weighing an average of 5 kilograms.

Koala

They spend most of their time in trees, for example the koala. They mainly live in South and Central America. If you look at Megatherium, these sloths 10 times You can see how big it is.

So what did this giant animal eat and drink?

Researchers state that this creature doesn’t even compete for food with other smaller animals. Because, as we just said, his arms are very long so he can easily reach the trees and in this way provide for his food needs. However, its ability to grow tall does not mean that it feeds solely on trees. This way he can easily fill his stomach with soil plants. According to experts, he with claws It is an animal that can easily chew plants with its strong teeth after scraping the roots of plants.

What we have told so far shows that this animal feeds on grass, which is what experts think. However, it is still a controversial issue in the scientific world whether he ate meat or not. This animal, normally considered a carnivore and depicted as a scavenger, herbivore It may not make sense to the experts that it could be.

Some theorists argue that this animal did not hunt other creatures, but that it was somewhere. a dead animal He claims he ate it when he saw it, while others say he jumped on other animals and hunted them with his claws.

But we would like to point out that none of these claims have been proven. If we examine the fossils of the animal, we can even say that chemical analyzes of the teeth definitively proved that it was a herbivore. Megatherium BC. With 8,000, it is one of the extinct species in the period when many species became extinct. Scientists believe that the reason for the extinction of these creatures is due to humans. their hunt thinks so.

Actual fossils on display at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias in Madrid)

The reason experts think this is because: fossils it had cuts allegedly caused by the attack. Moreover, their disappearance period also corresponds to the Holocene period, the ascension period of mankind. Experts may have thought so for this reason. However, as we mentioned above, many living things were already extinct during that period.

The place where the fossils of this animal are exhibited today is in Madrid It is the Museo Nacional de Ciencias. This place has been home to fossils since it was first found. Well, have you ever heard of Megatherium before? Feel free to share your thoughts on this interesting animal with us in the comments.

• Sources: The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life, All That Interesting, Natural History Museum, Prehistoric Wildlife