Megatherium
extinct genus of large mammals of the order Pilosa
Megatherium was a huge, bulky, slow-moving mammal that lived during the Pleistocene epoch in South America. It went extinct about 11,000 years ago. This ice-age mammal was the largest of the ground sloths; Megatherium's name means "great beast." Megatherium was named by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1856; the first Megatherium fossil was found in Argentina in 1789.
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| Skeleton of Megatherium americanum in the Natural History Museum, London | |
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| Genus: | †Megatherium Cuvier, 1796
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