This Was The Largest Sloth To Roam Earth

Sloths, they are cute, cuddly, and are not exactly the epitome of ferocity, but this hasn’t always been the case. Just a few thousand years ago, give or take, they were giants, like, elephant sized giants. And the largest of these prehistoric sloths was the Megatherium, which roamed South America with confidence thanks to its gargantuan body. However, its size wasn’t the only thing it had going, as it possessed other tools, which allowed it to become a highly competitive animal in an ecosystem filled with other megafauna, and not to mention deadly smilodons.
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Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megathe...
www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/s...
www.britannica.com/animal/Meg...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megathe...
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[@BigBoiRedFrog]

When Sid goes to the gym

[@noeltorres9175]

🤣👍

[@KNR90]

He didn't have to. He was already megatherium. But he could have probably benefited anyways

[@genetlair5999]

@@KNR90 Pretty sure he’s a megalonyx. Megatherium isn’t the only ground sloth.

[@KNR90]

@@genetlair5999So you definitely know for sure which giant ground sloth Sid is for sure. Would fucking love to hear how you know this for certain

[@genetlair5999]

@@KNR90 Let me rephrase that…… Though Sid might not EXACTLY be a megalonyx,…he could also be one the ground sloth species of that medium-size range which are much smaller than megatherium. Or at least based upon those species cuz from what I read in the official wiki page, Sid was based/designed from both ground sloths as well as the smaller modern day tree sloths.

[@CousinWhatIsIt]

As a child, I saw illustrations of them in books, but they weren't that interesting to me. Then, as an adult I visited the Smithsonian in D.C. and came around a corner to this giant skeleton with huge claws, and it was scary as hell, lol. One of my favorite and most memorable moments of the whole trip.

[@ian_b]

Reminds me of the first time I saw a Moa skeleton at the Natural History Museum in London. I was like woah, that's one big scary bird.

[@roonypa]

i have the exact same story lol. went there for a high school bio assignment like a decade ago and it blew my mind

[@seheadhunter50]

​@@ian_b I've always thought they were interesting. I don't understand how you could think otherwise.

[@roboman34]

i have one in VR chat ........Steam ....CATSPAW,,,,and a saber ...that they say looks like a giant bever ...but its a CAT .

[@roboman34]

Max gillrain

[@Godisgood007]

The fact that these giant creatures could even intimidate some top predators like smilidons, while STILL being a regular food source for humans is astounding.

[@Godisgood007]

@MARCVS ANTONIVS That's the point, animals that were almost impossible to kill by other animals like the mammoths and the ground sloth, were easy prey for humans, and that's pretty impressive atleast in my opinion.

[@TheRiiiight]

Hyper intelligence really is a crazy skill to have lol.

[@deinsilverdrac8695]

1. Human died quite often in those hunt. 2. Pointy stick at several dozen meters of distance is cheating. It's easy to just take a large and slow target, get somewhere they can't reach us, and throw hundreds of stones and sticks. Even better when we can't make him fall in a trap where he can't flee.

[@Godisgood007]

@@deinsilverdrac8695 Nothing in nature is cheating as long as it helps a creature survive. We humans don't have any sort of natural weaponry like claws or fangs, so we needed to create our own weaponry to protect ourselves and hunt prey.

[@TRUTHANDCONSEQUENCESWILLNEVER]

Humans dont go 1 to 1 with anything, we are evolved to hunt in groups, that is why we have whites in our eyes so we can signal where we are looking and language. Once you realize that it doesn't become so astounding anymore, look up hunting of hippos with traditional means (there is a video if you can stomach it), they basically surround & swarm the animal with spears and keep poking it until it dies. There is nothing the animal can really do against this. When it turns the other group in front will retreat away and the group behind jump forward and starts stabbing, then the animal turns and that group retreats and the other group stabs it. It just keeps spinning until it dies.

[@lucasdepauladesouza470]

There are some indigenous myths about giant monsters that probably appoints to the ancient giant sloths in South America. I am Brazilian and my biology professor, that is also paleontologist, said this to my class a couple of years ago.

[@baldieman64]

I've literally just posted about the Mapinguari before scrolling down and seeing this. It's perfectly possible that there are oral traditions that we treat as myth, that are actually retelling of encounters with real creatures encountered by our ancestors, hundreds, or even thousands of years ago. Mapinguari is one such example. Mkali Mbembe is thought by some to have been a rhino that lived in the Congo, before the environment changed from savannah to forest at the end of the last ice age.

[@deinsilverdrac8695]

The mapinguari ?

[@Thomas_Name]

"So I'm lazy, am I? And who is going to make me work? Your tribe?" "N... N... No, M... Mr. Sloth. We mean you no harm. You go right ahead and live the way you need to live."

[@randydominguez666]

Man I love how you went right into the subject, no long introduction, no bs, just straight to the point 👏🏾

[@creepycassette]

No minecraft/subway surfer video playing at the bottom, no plugs to sub to their paetreon, no weird shoutouts, no cliffhanger ending, this channel truly is a gem.

[@dannyhernandez265]

@@creepycassettewhat I love too. No BS just straight to the point. This channel earned my subscription.

[@facundovera3227]

I wonder if they would've been hairless like today's elephants.

[@soiyavnz]

Iirc they said this is the one responsible for dispersing avocado seeds, so when it was gone it was up to humans to do it otherwise avocado would have gone extinct.

[@dMb1869]

Didn’t seem any lesser in quality to me. Good stuff as usual. Happy holidays!

[@Acerbus2004]

Bro, at this very moment you're easily on the top 3 list of youtubers ever. I love your videos, they're informative and not boring at all. I like how in depth you go in terms of theories and in describing the animals you make videos of!

[@BIack_Noir]

what I hate is when people say youll learn nothing if you don't pay attention in school, when we have a channel right here that gives us all kinds of exciting information.

[@stormhawk3319]

Megatherium was a true prehistoric wonder of the mammalian animal kingdom.

[@tonybusch8771]

Yeah, a Sloth the same size of an Elephant.

[@nestordanielmunozalva4349]

Smilodon: Please do not hurt me... Homo Sapiens: I'm pleased to inform you that you are food.

[@firstcynic92]

5:15. Has anyone thought to check the mineral content of the burrows? Maybe it was scratching the rocks to get calcium, sodium or phosphorus.

[@someoneyoumightormightnotk3602]

Megatherium did not dig, that would be Scelidotherium or glossotherium

[@seanblair393]

I saw the skeleton of this beast a few weeks ago at the Florida Museum in Gainesville. I'd seen sloth fossils before, living in California and Nevada, but nothing this big. Incredible!

[@a.jperez202]

That one is Eremotherium, a close relative of Megatherium. Its actually bigger than megatherium as well.

[@james10zi85]

Less time spent on the video, but quality as always. Keep it up man!! And happy new year too :)

[@dinoslayerreviews]

I've only recently discovered your channel and now you post a video on my favourite prehistoric mammal!! Amazing 😁

[@ExtinctZoo]

You can't go wrong with a sloth!

[@dinoslayerreviews]

@@ExtinctZoo I really hope you keep up the videos on all these prehistoric animals because I love them. They're my favourite out of any channel. If I may, I'd love to see a video on Elasmotherium 😁

[@vettethewarlock5448]

They almost feel like the mammal version of a Therizinosaurus, massive herbivores with hooked claws for grasping branches, like the fill a similar niche

[@baldieman64]

Convergent Evolution is weird. The horse relative Chalicotherium is an even better example - and of course, the gorilla has the same basic body plan.

[@adambrown6174]

Maybe in a million years today's giant anteater could evolve in that direction too...

[@ishrendon6435]

@@adambrown6174 assuming they dont go extinct lol

[@lordsnuffles3714]

Just found your channel and this video was no less detailed than anything else you have produced. Nice to see some non dinosaur related content on your channel as well and looking forward to more.

[@nitex4193]

i find it crazy how sloths used to be both aquatic and huge before

[@DarthMizaru]

Everything was bigger before, too bad that they couldn't adapt to the changing conditions of the planet which favored smaller less resource intensive life.

[@jessfrankel5212]

Having seen Ice Age, Sid was considerably smaller... 😉😂 Good vid.

[@flintsky7706]

Hey-ohhhhh 😉😉😉

[@julianmarsh8384]

I read that they had a sort of boney plates under their skin sort of like medieval chan mail...if so, good luck to humans hunting this thing! A full grown Giant Ground Sloth was virtually invincible.

[@ravenouself4181]

Ah, Yes, when the Therizinosaurus reincarnates as a mammal.

[@_-Soul-_]

Less popular creatures need more love

[@Rick-lu6ut]

I remember seeing a giant sloth skeleton on a field trip thinking it was as big as a car then reading the bio for the skeleton saying it was only a teen and not fully grown skeleton

[@logan_rox2105]

I love your channel, keep up the great work !

[@Dantae2612]

Eremotherium was larger than megatherium, as it is bulkier and heavier.

[@bearclaw1051]

Wrong.

[@tonybusch8771]

“This is Megatherium, a giant “ground” sloth. It has huge claws, is six meters from nose to tail, and weighs more than an Elephant. A very different beast from its distant relatives, the gentle tree sloths.” But, Megatherium is about the same size as an Elephant, right?

[@user-ex9oc9by8z]

this was one of my favourite animals of the stone age when i was younger

[@creepycassette]

Didnt know u were around during the stone age but ok

[@user-ex9oc9by8z]

lol@@creepycassette

[@joshuaball5916]

Happy New Year's Eve!✨

[@marclytle644]

Informative and entertaining. Thank you, I have always been facinated on prehistoric creatures. Giant sloths were really cool. Although my favorite extinct mammal was the Paraceratherium.

[@ExtinctZoo]

And thank you for stopping by, I had actually planned to do the paraceratherium for today, but there is just so much more information on it, that I felt like I needed more time to work on it.

[@pedrocampos1787]

Good.

[@robertolesen5782]

Really enjoying your videos, keep ‘‘em coming bro’!

[@eliletts8149]

Great video! I really enjoyed watching it Happy holidays by the way!

[@theperfectbotsteve4916]

That was the last thing the dude with the torch ever saw

[@Diabdor]

its the the size of a bear, with sloth claws, my god

[@manic2360]

..All Hail Sloth.

[@Kamen2024]

I really enjoy your videos. Can you make a video about Zhuchengtyrannus Magnus?I feel like it is crazily underrated.

[@dragonfolkstudios]

No apologies necessary, on the contrary, a superb video! The Happiest of New Year's and may '23 bring you joy!

[@WAMTAT]

Awesome video, keep up the great work

[@ShadowDeathMiller]

Cave people really lived as rpg characters fighting bosses

[@bodorerik9014]

Ark player am i right

[@shafqatishan437]

Megatherium is no longer the biggest. Eremotherium was the largest sloth ever now.

[@jalanancrath6589]

Oo which is the biggest? I’ll look it up but would like to know what you mean

[@kootytooty]

i think even Lestodon is bigger than Megatherium. Megatherium is given an upper weight of 4 tonnes with Lestodon at 4.5, and yes Eremotherium goes above and beyond even that to 6.6 tonnes bigger than a African Bush Elephant

[@justinmccreight4194]

Just found your channel. Love it, keep up the good work

[@ExtinctZoo]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@pedrocampos1787]

Oookk.

[@echoes3464]

It also gains a 4x resistance and damage buff when it kills insects👍

[@jamainwilkins5100]

I predict your channel will hit 400k in two years

[@the_neutral_container]

As good as always in my book. Happy New Year!

[@steelslide9601]

I don't think that the megatherium was completely hairless, I think it had short hair like some dog breeds like pitbulls

[@baldieman64]

We have a mummified body of the bear sized ground sloth Nothrotheriops. It is covered by rough, yellowish hair, and is currently in the Mammal Hall at Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History. Of course, we don't know for sure whether megatherium was hair covered, but it seems likely.

[@ekosubandie2094]

Xenarthran has lower metabolic rate and average body temperature than Placental, so an animal the size of Megatherium would probably still be covered in hair to better regulate its temperature

[@funwithfish1507]

We were so close to so many species… and they died

[@patrickperalta59]

ExtinctZoo thanks for all your hard work you deserve a brake same as anyone else.. no need to worry if your videos are not up to the standards you normally do them.... We understand. keep up the good work.

[@thisissostupidliterallywhy]

Of the three thumbnails, I liked the first the best

[@SOP83]

I find the theories about burrowing interesting. Those claws would be perfect for digging a den for hibernating or raising young. They literally look like a giant gopher or similar.

[@nagavamsip]

A pain in the ass to tame, but it's amazing in the swamp cave because of the insect buff...

[@josephpatterson2549]

A fellow ark player

[@SteveFisher0571]

Dead easy tame, net gun then throw 4 metal billboards around it, alpha wave ray 64 for a mc/asc saddle then swamp cave for level 100 and day 1 heavies 😁

[@captaincosmopolitan5163]

Cant wait till the Megatherium Coin comes out bets it's gonna be as yuuuuuuuge as this big boi

[@patriciamercer9960]

Great video! Have a wonderful new year ✨️ 😊

[@baldieman64]

I know they're long gone, but it would be so cool to have a Mapinguari walk out of the Amazon forest.

[@ancientyoke]

Class video, well done

[@dodoraptor8387]

What I like about sloth is their really neat hairstyle

[@braxtonnichols8373]

You’re videos are good regardless if you didn’t spend as much time on them dude

[@TheFoshaMan]

I love that giant brute :3

[@a.jperez202]

Eremotherium was bigger, at upwards of 6.5 tonnes.

[@beastinfection638]

I saw a twitter post that claimed that the largest ones could reach 10 tonnes

[@messiahmatrix]

I hope someday we can bring them back from extinction with crisper case 9 technology.

[@bladeable1283]

i love your video style!

[@ExtinctZoo]

thank ya!

[@robotaholic]

Their claws were just for gouging out eyes lol 😆

[@Jonathan-tm6io]

The only sloth that can turn into wrath if it feels threatened

[@seheadhunter50]

The Ground Sloth has been one of my favorite animals ever since I saw pictures of them at a museum when I was a kid. I wish the people who make Jurassic World movies would make at least one movie with animals from those days..the movie and the toys would be awesome.

[@BananaCake26]

Is there any indication that ground sloths could move as fast as in those animations? I find that hard to believe given their extant relatives.

[@wolfman2.055]

Probably not since animals that size are typically not that fast outside of short bursts of speed

[@jacobhoover1654]

I find it hard to believe you had no spelling errors considering your mom

[@DarthMizaru]

Might have similar speed to a bear, current day sloths have their bodies changed to live on trees and such so they are lighter.

[@gabrieljvelez-perez9275]

“Though they might be herbivores, but they’ll occasionally go for carrion in order to supplement their diet.” -WWB

[@Steven-dt5nu]

I enjoy your videos

[@daltonvargas15]

Megasloth would be the right name for this animal.

[@HotdogJuice]

I have a phobia of sloths. I really tried to watch the video. Seems like a good one

[@turtlecrawling66]

0:09 never before seen footage of Sid vs Diego.

[@BWGPT]

These were the original masters of earth bending.

[@hercuplease6126]

Definitely up to standard my guy 👍

[@Bacnow]

I would love to see a mad scientist revive this beast! Imagine them living in the Congo or Amazon rainforest!

[@JooBrothers]

I would really appreciate an allosaurus video, I think the dinosaur is awesome ♥

[@xeshxoli4566]

He left out the part about them earthbending also 🤔😂🤣

[@monticore1626]

Tbf modern sloths are by no means defenceless, they have a powerful bite with sharp teeth and their claws are no joke either

[@santosbruzon]

YOUR THE BEST KZbinR FOR DINOSAURS 🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤

[@benjaminrodriguez7356]

Great video! Happy New Year's to you as well!

[@godzillamanz8139]

The thumbnail tho, Makes the mega sloth be like: *AYO STAP IT IM TRYING TO SLEEP*

[@DarthMizaru]

These guys are awesome, it's an easy first boss.

[@wormwoodbecomedelphinus4131]

Seems like they would've been great domestication. Oh well.

[@sdcard7129]

Give this man a raise 🙌

[@nektu5435]

When I first saw the thumbnail for this video I mistook the nostrils for the eyes and the snout for the face. It only took me a second or two for me to notice the rest of the head but it was a creepy couple of seconds.

[@glennquagmire1747]

Good job !!!! 👏

[@Lou.B]

I thought your video was GREAT!!! Thank You!

[@Croggoy]

Hey ExtinctZoo if you think it is interesting enough I would love to see you make a video about the Ceratosaurus. Thanks!! If anyone reads this I hope you have a good day/night

[@conangaming2156]

You could make a horror game involving ice age creatures.

[@ianb.2575]

Such a cool thumbnail

[@nicktronsnumberonefan4978]

That thumbnail is nightmare fuel.

[@olivier_gaming7936]

can you make one about the gigantopithecus next?

[@abigray8585]

Sloths today have sharp claws and pretty sharp teeth so they are still pretty dangerous even if they are herbivores.

[@BigSchmitt1989]

I'm new but if this video is 'not up to standards' then I think I'm going to like it here because this one was great

[@TheDeadlyDan]

Those tracks of people hunting sloths you show were from White Sands, NM and have been securely dated to 23,000ya. The 8 mile three story tall dressed rock wall containing tens of thousands of ice age petroglyphs in the Columbian rain forest show people were there for millennia. Tool fragments dated to 33,000ya have been found in Mexico. Climate was surely part of the demise of ground sloths, but people weren't. Cave bears and lions ranged from Africa to the Americas, I don't see why hominins couldn't have as well.

[@malibuhiegts]

If you see one near any insects, run, infact fly, get into orbit as fast as you can

[@thealexprime]

Informações incompletas e desatualidas.... gostei 🤣🤣🤣

[@santhajayasinghe4054]

Happy New Year

[@joikkky]

Megatherium it’s so amazing❤❤❤❤

[@rgerber]

Now you prefer to be ripped apart by a giant sloth or a Therizinosaurus which had claws that are as long as an arm or a whole upper body

[@damekielgrant]

That thumbnail tho

[@Maru-ge6jn]

Maybe one day in the future, giant cute Sloth eating tree on the Dodo

[@PirateDishWater]

How many times are you going to change the video title card?