AN EXTINCT GROUND-SLOTH (Megatherium} 



It is a remarkable fact that certain groups of land-animals were 

 in part represented, in comparatively late geological times, by 

 gigantic forms which have since become extinct. This is the case, 

 for example, with the Mammals poor in Teeth (Edentata), to which 

 belongs the South American Ground- Sloth (Megatherium} repre- 

 sented in the plate, which is taken from a photograph of a restora- 

 tion in the British Museum. In size it was nearly as large as an 

 elephant, and is believed to have fed on leaves, as do the relatively in- 

 significant Sloths which now live in the trees of the South American 

 forests. The plate represents the Ground-Sloth in the position it 

 assumed for the purpose of pulling down branches, or uprooting 

 small trees, in order to obtain its food. 



