EXTINCT SLOTHS 93 
it is now extinct. It was larger than the modern 
lion, and was furnished with canine teeth like curved 
daggers or sabres. These teeth, in a specimen found 
in South America, were twelve inches long. The 
Megatherium (Greek, megas=great, and therion= 
wild beast) was a Giant Sloth belonging to the 
Pleistocene days, and the Mylodon, also a big sloth, 
er, fae 
Fic. 36.—MyLopon RoBUSTUS (RESTORED), FROM PLEISTO- 
cENE Deposits IN SouTH AMERICA. 
living at the same time, may possibly have survived 
in South America long after the advent of man. 
The Megatherium was built on a massive scale ; its 
length was some eighteen feet ; the Mylodon was 
not so large, being only eleven feet in length. In 
comparison with the extinct big sloths, those which 
live nowadays are quite small. | 
In Miocene strata remains have been found of 
