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+--- Thread: Caves supposedly dug by giant sloths 10,000 years ago in Brazil. (/Thread-Caves-supposedly-dug-by-giant-sloths-10-000-years-ago-in-Brazil)
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RE: Caves supposedly dug by giant sloths 10,000 years ago in Brazil. - Velvet Elvis - 04-26-2024
(04-25-2024, 01:19 PM)putnam6 Wrote:
Yes Id say they have all the tools, but my main thought is a tunneling/building is usually associated with highly active animals aka busy as a beaver. This is a trait modern sloths are not known for.
Without sloths there would be no avocadosThe extinct giant ground sloths were some of the only mammals that had digestive systems large enough to process the huge avocado seeds whole. They feasted on the fruit and then dispersed the seeds far and wide. All tree sloths that we see today evolved from giant ground sloths. There were thought to be over 80 different types with the largest (Megatherium) reaching over six meters in height. There is even evidence to suggest that several different species of marine sloth existed, feeding from sea grass and seaweed in shallow water.
https://slothconservation.org/10-incredible-facts-about-the-sloth/
I never knew that about the avocados.
You have a point about burrowing animals typically being more active but as an honorary sloth myself, I'd say never underestimate the lengths one might go to getting some good shut eye.
RE: Caves supposedly dug by giant sloths 10,000 years ago in Brazil. - putnam6 - 04-26-2024
(04-25-2024, 12:46 AM)Velvet Elvis Wrote:FWIW here is a nice article about the origins and why they believe they were from Megatherium, their claws got them away
I love sloths!
Putnam6 is right the giant ones were huge. They have some life size statues of them at the La Brea Tar Pits and they are huge with long crazy sharp claws. I have no doubt they could dig those caves.
[Image: https://i.imgur.com/Ywp0jbhl.jpeg]
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-massive-tunnel-in-south-america-was-dug-by-ancient-mega-sloths
Quote:
There are now more than 1,500 known palaeoburrows that have been found in southern and southeastern Brazil alone, and there appear to be two different types: the smaller ones, that reach up to 1.5 metres in diameter; and the bigger ones, that can stretch up to 2 metres in height and 4 metres in width.
It wasn't until Frank started climbing inside them that he realised the extent of these tunnels, which can extend for up to 100 metres, and occasionally branch off into separate chambers.
When he looked up at the ceiling, he got his first big clue about what could be behind their construction - distinctive grooves in the weathered granite, basalt, and sandstone surfaces, which he's identified as the claw marks of a massive, ancient creature.
"Most consist of long, shallow grooves parallel to each other, grouped and apparently produced by two or three claws," Frank and his team explained in a 2016 paper.
"These grooves are mostly smooth, but some irregular ones may have been produced by broken claws."
[Image: https://www.sciencealert.com/images/2017-03/paleoburrow-claws.jpg]Heinrich Frank
The discovery seemed to answer one of the long-standing questions in palaeontology regarding the ancient megafauna that roamed the planet during the Pleistocene epoch, from about 2.5 million years ago to 11,700 years ago: Where were all the burrows?
