Georgia's giant ground sloth aka Megatherium.

Illustration of Megatherium Ground Sloth (c. 1920), 
by Heinrich Harder - Credit: 
The Wonderful Paleo Art of Heinrich Harder

We are still working our way through our school year, and we are going to finish the year out doing a state study of Georgia.  I am breaking this down because we have discovered a few very interesting topics such as the giant ground sloth.  I wanted to make sure they get their 15 minutes of fame.

Who knew that giant, mammoth-sized sloths once lived in Georgia?  I did not but now I know.  There was not a lot of information readily available so some of the details about this extinct mammal could not be obtained, at least not by me.  This is what we found.

Factoids:
*America's giant ground sloths have been extinct for some 10,000 years.

*These American sloths were related to the anteater and the tree sloth.

*Giant ground sloths were also known as Megatherium americanum.  Megatherium translates into a large animal with enormous proportions.  That would be pretty accurate since these giant sloths were as much as or more than 6 meters long and more massive than an elephant.

*They also walked on the sides of their feet.

*Ground sloths were covered with long, silky hair.

*Ground sloths also had an extremely heavy tail with thick hind legs and slim forelegs.

*Ground sloths also had claws (megalonyx which in Greek means giant claws).  They have five digits on each limb and all are equipped with claws.

*The largest ground sloth recorded was as large as an elephant and the smallest was the size of a small dog.  The smaller ground sloths belong to the Mylontidae family.

*Sloths are mammals with primate-like features but is in the same order as the Armadillo.

*These extinct creatures lived in woodland and grassland areas of North America, and more specifically in Georgia.

*They lived in caves, and their diets consisted mostly of  vegetation.

*In 1797, Thomas Jefferson discovered the bones of a giant ground sloth in a West Virginia cave.  Guess what they named his discovery?  Megalonyx jeffersoni.  I guess that has a ring to it. It is also the state fossil of West Virginia.


~There have been reports that a few people claiming to have seen Sasquatches have actually, in fact been, a giant ground sloth.  I am sure there will be a show about that on the Animal Planet soon.  (I hope not!).


-An article from 2011
-Mental Floss has an article, #5 on the list.
-Another account from May 2014.

There you have it.  Georgia had a giant ground sloth they may or may not be alive lurking around posing as a Squatch.  I am not sure I would like to meet one up close accidentally but I think it would be pretty amazing at the same time.

Famous ground sloth.  Sid from Ice Age.

If you want to take a look at a few real fossils from the giant ground sloths and other animals that roamed before the last Ice Age, visit Skidaway Island in Savannah, Georgia.  Here is a link for more info.  The giant ground sloths also lived in multiple Georgia counties (pre-European) such as Cherokee and Dawson.  There are fossils and other treasures still being found today along the Etowa River.  We may have to go on a fossil hunt.

BBC

GPB-video
Wikipedia megatherium
abc.net 
Pinterest 
Brevard Museum 
Exhibits Museum