GIGANTIC GROUND SLOTHS 179 



sleeps suspended from a branch, but at the same time it 

 always seeks a position in which it can rest its body on a 

 branch below parallel with the one to which it clings. 



In prehistoric times a Family of gigantic ground sloths, 

 called Meg-a-the'ri-ums, creatures as large as the largest 

 rhinoceros, lived on the pampas of southern South America 

 and also in the southern United States. Plaster casts of the 

 entire skeleton of the most celebrated species {Megatherium 

 cuvieri), from South America, 17 feet 9 inches long, are now 

 to be found in many American museums. 



