Megatherium species were members of the abundant Pleistocene megafauna, large mammals that lived during the Pleistocene epoch. It was one of the largest ground sloths, about as big as modern Asian elephants. Megatherium americanum was one of the largest animals in its habitat, weighing up to 4 t (8,800 lb), with a shoulder height of 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) and length of 6 m (20 ft) from head to tail. Reconstruction of Megatherium with hair (top) and without (bottom). americanum was slaughtered and butchered is known, suggesting that hunting could have caused its extinction. The extinction coincides with the settlement of the Americas, and one and potentially multiple kill sites where M. Megatherium became extinct around 12,000 years ago during the Quaternary extinction event, which also claimed most other large mammals in the New World. The holotype specimen was then shipped to Spain the following year wherein it caught the attention of the paleontologist Georges Cuvier, who was the first to determine, by means of comparative anatomy, that Megatherium was a sloth. Megatherium was first discovered in 1788 on the bank of the Luján River in Argentina. americanum in size, such as large proboscideans (e.g., elephants) and the giant rhinoceros Paraceratherium. ![]() Only a few other land mammals equaled or exceeded M. americanum, which was native to tropical South America, Central America and North America as far north as the southern United States. Megatherium is part of the sloth family Megatheriidae, which also includes the similarly giant Eremotherium, comparable in size to M. ![]() Various other smaller species belonging to the subgenus Pseudomegatherium are known from the Andes. ![]() americanum, sometimes known as the giant ground sloth, or the megathere, native to the Pampas through southern Bolivia during the Pleistocene. It is best known for the elephant-sized type species M. Megatherium ( / m ɛ ɡ ə ˈ θ ɪər i ə m/ meg-ə- THEER-ee-əm from Greek méga ( μέγα) 'great' + theríon ( θηρίον) 'beast') is an extinct genus of ground sloths endemic to South America that lived from the Early Pliocene through the end of the Pleistocene. Map showing the distribution of all Megatherium species in red, inferred from fossil finds
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