Humans once hunted terrifying GIANT 10-foot sloths, ancient knife reveals
These sloths were around three metres tall and weighed over four tonnes
GIANT sloths were hunted and slaughtered by humans almost 12,600 years ago.
This is according to the latest analysis of an ancient butchering knife, which was found by archaeologists in Argentina.
Fossilised remains of the giant sloth in question were found in 2000 by a farmer at a site called Campo Laborde.
Scientists recently re-analysed these remains to pinpoint exactly when the sloth was killed and confirmed it as the only example of a ground sloth being killed by humans.
The findings also revealed that giant sloths actually went extinct during the end of the Late Pleistocene and hungry humans may have been a big reason for this.
Around 12,000 years ago, up to 90% of all large-bodied animals around the world are thought to have gone extinct on every continent except Africa.
Evidence to suggest that the Argentinian giant sloth was slaughtered by ancient humans includes a broken piece of knife and other stone tools.
Gustavo Politis, an archaeologist from the Universidad Nacional del Centro in Buenos Aires and the lead author of the new study, used sophisticated purification technology to reanalyse the bone dates and now believes other ancient sloth remains have been dated wrong.
The study also notes how the knife in question had been sharpened, broken and thrown away after it was used to cut the sloth meat.
Giant ground sloths are likely to have walked the Earth with mammoths, ancient giant armadillos and prehistoric horses.
These sloths were around three metres tall and weighed over four tonnes, making them a similar size to an African elephant.
They are thought to have stood on two feet, with short legs and a big body covered in long hair.
It is likely that they lived in groups in the woodland and grassland environments in South America.
Unlike their modern relatives, they would have been active in the daytime because they did not have many predators for millions of years.
Giant sloths – the key facts
Here's what you need to know...
- Megatherium is the official name for a genus of elephant-sized ground sloths native to South America
- They're better known as giant growth sloths, and lived from the early Pliocene, an epoch that began 5.333million years ago
- Sadly, giant sloths became extinct roughly around 8,500 BC
- There were only a few other land mammals that were bigger than Megatherium, making them one of the world's most interesting megafauna
- The first fossil specimen of Megatherium was discovered in Argentina in 1788
- Since then, more fossils have been found across South America, including in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay
- They're one of the biggest land mammals known to have ever existed
- They could weigh up to 4 tonnes, and measured up to 6 metres (20 foot) in length
- The creatures were herivorous, and had huge curved claws for pulling down far-away branches
- Giant sloths largely walked on all fours, but trackways reveal that they were capable of walking on two legs at times too
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Would you like to have met a giant sloth? Let us know in the comments...
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