Giant Ground Sloth Skull

$1,790.00

Eremotherium is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Megatheriidae, endemic to northern South America, Central America, and parts of southern North America during the Pleistocene epoch.

Description

Giant Ground Sloth Skull Replica measures 30x15x18 inches. The Giant Ground Sloth Skull is Museum quality polyurethane cast made in USA. Skull cast from Original of the Royal Ontario Museum. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Our precise skull can be used as a teaching tool, museum skull exhibit, home décor skull, or office décor skull. Skull requires crate, please call 509-951-3557 for shipping quote.

Edentate of the late Pleistocene. The original bones of the Giant Ground Sloth or Eremotherium mirabile were found in Florida. Ground sloths are a diverse group of extinct sloths, in the mammalian superorder Xenarthra.

Eremotherium is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Megatheriidae, endemic to North America and South America during the Pleistocene epoch. Lived from 4.9 million years ago.

Eremotherium Mirabile is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Megatheriidae, endemic to North America and South America during the Pleistocene epoch. It lived from 4.9 million years ago, 11,000 years ago existing for approximately 4.889 million years ago.

Fossils have been uncovered from Volusia County, Florida, Chatham County, Georgia; Berkeley County, South Carolina; Espirito Santo; and Pedra Preta, Brazil; Tarapoto, Peru (giant form); Rio Canas, Ecuador.

The Giant Ground Slorth or Eremotherium Mirabile rivalled the closely related Megatherium in size, reaching an overall length of 20 ft. and a height of 6.6 ft. while on all fours, but could attain a height of about 13 ft. when it reared up on its hind legs. Weight estimates vary, with a range of 6,600–14,400 lb.

It is one of the largest land-dwelling mammals of that time in the Americas that migrated from Eurasia. As a ground-dwelling sloth, it had relatively shorter and stronger limbs compared to modern arboreal sloths and also had a longer tail.

The predominantly quadrupedal locomotion took place on inwardly turned feet, with the entire weight resting on the outer, fifth and possibly fourth phalanges (a pedolateral gait), whereby the talus was subject to massive reshaping.

The Giant Ground Sloth or Eremotherium Mirabile hands were turned inwards, in a position somewhat resembling the forefeet of the similarly clawed Chalicotheriidae, a now extinct group of odd-toed ungulates.

It also suggests that locomotion was rather slow for the Giant Ground Sloth or Eremotherium Mirabile. It was unable to perform digging activities, as has been demonstrated for other large ground sloths, which can also be seen in the construction of the forearm, just as the manipulation of objects was minimized due to the limited ability of the fingers to move in relation to each other.

However, Eremotherium Laurillardi was able to stand up on its hind legs and pull branches and twigs with its hands, for example to reach the foliage of tall trees for feeding, as well as defensive strikes with its long claws were possible.

Megatherium Facts:
Temporal range: Early Pliocene to Early Holocene, 5–0.010 Ma
Possible later date of 0.008 Ma
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Pilosa
Clade: †Megatheria
Family: †Megatheriidae
Subfamily: †Megatheriinae
Genus: †Megatherium
Cuvier, 1796
Type species: †Megatherium americanum
Cuvier, 1796
Conservation Status: Extinct

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Additional information

Weight 49 lbs
Dimensions 30 × 15 × 18 in