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. 



