Tag Archives: Ground sloth

Overkill

Posted on March 25, 2015 by twilightbeasts

“But how could they have killed them all with just pointy sticks?” This question, or a variation thereof, has been asked of me, seemingly whenever I bring up the concept of overkill as the likely cause of Pleistocene megafaunal extinction. … Continue reading →

Posted in Sea cow | Tagged Bering, Bering Island, Bering Straits, Commander Islands, Extinction, Ground sloth, Holocene, Hunting, Hydrodamalis gigas, Mammoth, Mastodon, Medny Island, Megatherium, Naivety, Overkill, Paul S Martin, Pleistocene, Sirenia, St Lawrence Island, St Paul Island, Steller, Steller's sea cow, Wrangel Island, Yupik | 14 Comments

The giant owl and those giant claws

Posted on September 25, 2014 by twilightbeasts

When we talk of megafauna we tend to think of the wild and wonderful mammals of the Pleistocene and Pliocene. Megafauna are all the fabulous big and familiar exciting beasts, like mammoths, giant sloths and sabre-tooths, right? Wrong. We don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Giant Cuban Owl | Tagged Cuba, Giant Cuban Owl, Ground sloth, Guanahatabey, mammoths, Megalocnus rodens, Ornimegalonyx, owl, Phorusrhacid, Sabre tooth cat, Siboney, Sierra de Sumadero, Terror Bird | 7 Comments

A home on the range

Posted on September 11, 2014 by twilightbeasts

Imagine an igloo. Now picture it with a crash helmet poking out the front, and a medieval spiked club sticking out the back. Elevate that image on four stubby legs, convert it into bone and flesh and you have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Glyptodon | Tagged Argentina, Doedicurus, Extinction, Florentino Ameghino, Glyptodon, Glyptotherium, Ground sloth, Hunting, osteoderm, Panochthus, Pleistocene, Smilodon fatalis, Smilodon populator, Xenarthra | 13 Comments

Mr Darwin’s lost sloth

Posted on May 8, 2014 by twilightbeasts

Ground sloths are weird. The two-toed and three-toed varieties of memetic fame that we are left with only hint at the absurdity of different genera such as Eremotherium, Megalonyx, and Nothrotheriops: bear-sized to elephant-sized behemoths, covered in shaggy fur, and sporting … Continue reading →

Posted in Ground Sloth | Tagged Beagle, Charles Darwin, Cueva del Milodon, DNA, Ermotherium, Glyptodon clavipes, Ground sloth, Macrauchenia patachonica, Megalonyx, Mylodon Cave, Mylodon darwinii, Nothrotheriops, Richard Owen, soft tissue | 18 Comments

The forgotten sabretooth

Posted on April 28, 2014 by twilightbeasts

If the Pleistocene megafauna held a popularity contest then I’m certain that some species would pop up more than others. The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), the giant ground sloth (Megatherium americanum) and sabretooth cat (Smilodon fatalis) are probably the gold, silver, … Continue reading →

Posted in Sabre tooth Cat | Tagged Cave Lion, Chauvet Caves, Creswell Crags, European Scimitar Cat, Ground sloth, Homotherium latidens, Kents Cavern, Lascaux Caves, Robin Hood Cave, Sabre tooth cat, Smilodon fatalis, William Boyd Dawkins, Woolly Mammoth | 21 Comments

	The most (and least)… on A very brief introduction to…
	The most (and least)… on The Nipple Tooth
	The most (and least)… on The burrowers
	The most (and least)… on The Stuff Of Night-Mares
	The most (and least)… on The beasts within

	The most (and least)… on A very brief introduction to…
	The most (and least)… on The Nipple Tooth
	The most (and least)… on The burrowers
	The most (and least)… on The Stuff Of Night-Mares
	The most (and least)… on The beasts within