77//: cnorxi) SLOTH ciiori' iio 



iitiiiilu'r of tlic 'IViistccs (if this Miiscniii, ;iii(l its iirincipjil spcfiiiiciis iirc or 

 w ill l)c iv\liil)it(Ml III till' Soil til Aincricnii section of tlic new (^ii;itcrii;iry I lull. 



The e(>nter-|)ieee of this exhihit is the new (Ji'oiiikI Sloth (iroiij), just 

 completed, it consists of four oriuinal skeletons re|)reseMtiiiji: two geiiefji 

 of these aiiinials, I.i sludoii and Mi/hulon. The lai'^'est skeleton, Lc.sfodon 

 (iniiafufi, ranks next to the Mcfidthrriiin/ in size, hut diU'crs in \arioiis particu- 

 lars, especially in the shape of the head, characters of the teeth and miniher 

 of claws on the feet. 'Hie three smaller skeletons helonu' to two species of 

 Mj/li)i/(>n, M. rohii.sf IIS nwil M. ( I'siitilnlrshiilnn ] iiii/loiilis. 



The skeletons are i;i'ou])e<l ai'ound a tree trunk, in |)oses indicating the 

 supposed hahits and adaptation of tlie li\iiiu- animals. The Lislinhm, 

 standing on his hind leys, is endeavoring to reach up and drag dow n hraiiches 

 of the tree. One of the Mijlodons is busily digging and tearing at th( roots 

 to loosen and hreak them and so help his big friend to uproot and pull the 

 tree down. A third animal is coming around the base of the tree to assist 

 in the digging operations, while a fourth stands at a short distance, ready 

 to add his weight to drag down the branches when they are brought within 

 reach. 



These poses illustrate the theoi'y of tlu' habits of the ground sloth <le- 

 duced by Owen from the study of the skeletons a model of scientific 

 reasoning wliose accuracy has ne\cr l)een imj)ugncd. .\niong the earlier 

 students of this animal, the cautious Cuvier had contented himself with 

 obser\ing that the great clawed feet indicated that it was more or less gi\'en 

 to digging in the ground. Some of his Icarni'd contein])(;raries were bolder 

 in their speculations. Pander and D'Alton regarded it as an "enormous 

 earth-mole which obtained its nourishment beneath the earth's surface 

 through continuous e.xertion of its colossal strength; and when, perhaps by 

 sinking of the ground to the sea-level, it was dri\'cn to li\"e on the surface 

 of the earth, its \ ast ])(iw<'rs, lacking exercise, degeiici-ated, and its size 

 dwindled, until finally it became the weak and puny tree sloth of to-day."' 



Lund at a soiiiewlial later period, held a \ iew scarcely less fanciful. 

 He t)elie\('d that the Miijitthiri inn was arboi-cal, like the modern slotli, 

 and obser\-es: "In truth, what ideas imist we form of a scale of creation 

 where instead of our s(|uirrcls, creatures of the size and bulk of the Rhino- 

 ceros and Hippopotamus climbed up trees. It is very certain that the 

 forests in which these huge monsters gambolled could not be such as now 

 clothe the Brazilian moiuitains. but it will be remembered that the 



trees we now see in this region are l)Ut the dwarlish descendants of loftlei' 

 and nol)lcr forests and we may be permitted to sui)posc that the 



' Translated and conficn.scd from I'aiidcr ;md D'Alton's Dis Hiism Fin/Z-'/Vw- r, 1K21 , 

 p. 10. 



