CENOZOIC ERA. AGE OF MAMMALS. 401 



was probably more than twice the bulk of the greatest liv- 

 ing elephant. 



Quaternary Mammals in South America. We 



shall mention here only the most characteristic. South 

 America now is characterized by sloths, armadillos (eden- 

 tates), and llamas. In Quaternary times it was similarly 

 characterized, but the species were gigantic. Great ground- 

 sloths and cuirassed animals allied to the armadillo, but 

 bigger than an ox, had their homes in South America, but 

 wandered northward into North America as far as Cali- 

 fornia and Pennsylvania. Among the ground-sloths, the 

 best known are the Megatherium (great beast) and the 

 Mylodon. The hugest of these was the Megatherium 

 (Fig. 355). This was as big as a rhinoceros, and had 

 thigh-bones several times the bulk of those of an elephant. 

 The massiveness of the hind-legs, the hip-bones, and the 

 tail, together with the long arms and prodigious hands, 

 seem to indicate that the animal had the power of stand- 

 ing on its hind-legs while it reached up to tear down 

 branches of trees and feed upon them. 



FK;. 355. Megatherium Ciivieri. 



Among the cuirassed edentates, the best known is the 

 Glyptodon, the shell of which was at least five feet long ; 



LE CONTE, GEOL. 26 



