Ground Sloth Brain Replica

$75.00

Ground sloths are a diverse group of extinct sloths in the mammalian superorder Xenarthra. Ground sloths varied widely in size, with the largest genera Megatherium and Eremotherium being around the size of elephants.

Description

Ground Sloth Brain Replica measures 7.4×3.5×3 in. Ground Sloth Brain Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. Made in USA. Megalonyx jeffersoni. North America. Our precise brain can be used as a teaching tool, museum brain exhibit, home décor brain, or office décor brain.

Ground sloths are a diverse group of extinct sloths, in the mammalian superorder Xenarthra. The term is used as a reference for all extinct sloths because of the large size of the earliest forms discovered, as opposed to existing tree sloths.

The Caribbean ground sloths, the most recent survivors, lived in the Antilles, possibly until 1550 BC. However, radiocarbon dating suggests an age of between 2819 and 2660 BC for the last occurrence of Megalocnus in Cuba. Ground sloths had been extinct on the mainland of North and South America for 10,000 years or more.

Their later survival in the Caribbean correlates with the later colonization of this area by humans. Some island populations persisted 5,000 to 6,000 years longer than their continental relatives.

Much Ground sloth evolution took place during the late Paleogene and Neogene of South America while the continent was isolated. At their earliest appearance in the fossil record, the ground sloths were already distinct at the family level.

The presence of intervening islands between the American continents in the Miocene allowed a dispersal of forms into North America. A number of mid- to small-sized forms are believed to have previously dispersed to the Antilles. They were hardy as evidenced by their diverse numbers and dispersals into remote areas given the finding of their remains in Patagonia and parts of Alaska.

Sloths, and xenarthrans as a whole, represent one of the more successful South American groups during the Great American Interchange. During the interchange, many more taxa moved from North America into South America than in the other direction. At least five genera of ground sloths have been identified in North American fossils; these are examples of successful immigration to the north.

Shop More Museum Quality Brain Replicas in Brain Cast Store

Additional information

Weight 6 lbs
Dimensions 7.4 × 3.5 × 3.0 in
Ground Sloth Facts

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Subclass: Theria
Infraclass: Placentalia
Superorder: Xenarthra
Order: Pilosa
Suborder: Folivora
Conservation Status: Extinct