38 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



The Haitian species, A. (?) comes, was based on a femur from 

 a large cave and represents an animal much like A. odontrigo- 

 nus, weighing perhaps 50 pounds. The bone differs from the 

 corresponding one of the latter in having the neck of the 

 articular condyle shorter and less bent outward and forward 

 so that it diverges less noticeably from the general contour of 

 the shaft. In describing the species, Miller refers to it a few 

 other fragments, including several caniniform teeth from 

 Gonave Island, off the coast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but the 

 complete skull is as yet unknown. 



In Puerto Rico, remains of this type of ground sloth occur 

 in dry caves in the limestone of the mountainous parts of the 

 island. " Caves up on the sides of small hills yielded the most 

 bones and the size of the cave was immaterial. The cave that 

 contained the greatest amount of Ground Sloth material was a 

 small one with the entrance on a rather steep hillside and 

 opening out on a sheer front of limestone. Inside, the cave 

 did not open out very wide but had a deep fissure at the left 

 toward which the floor sloped abruptly. This fissure was richly 

 packed with bones of the sloth and the large rodent [Elasmo- 

 dontomys], the bones beginning at near the surface and con- 

 tinuing down some nine feet when excavations had to be given 

 up because of the impossibility of reaching any deeper. This 

 cave had the appearance of a trap for any animal that wandered 

 into it and certainly would have proved so for any old or sick 

 animal that had strength enough to crawl up through the 

 cave entrance." 



Concerning the remains of this genus and a larger sloth 

 found in Hispaniola by Miller, the latter states (1929a) : 

 "That one or both of these sloths continued to exist on the 

 island until after the advent of man I have no doubt. The 

 facts that have led me to this conclusion are as follows : (a) In 

 the two caves near St. Michel most of the sloth remains were 

 found within two feet of the surface; and human bones and 

 pottery occurred to the same depth without any indication 

 that they had been dug in. (b) Near the entrance to the 

 smaller of the two main caves bones of ground sloths (certainly 

 two and perhaps more individuals) were inextricably mixed 

 with bones of man (adult and infant) and domestic pig. The 

 remains were scattered among the small fragments of limestone 

 which made up the greater part of the floor material, and I was 



