#lestodon

[amnhnyc]

Party like a ground sloth, because it’s Fossil Friday! This image, snapped circa 1957 depicts giant sloths on display in the Museum. During the Pleistocene, a wide array of ground sloths lumbered across North and South America. Some, like the island-dwelling Megalocnus rodens, evolved to be long-distance swimmers. Others, like the mighty Megatherium, were among the largest land mammals to ever live. The biggest ground sloths could have weighed up to 8,800 lbs (4,000 kg)—the size of an elephant! Most of these mammals died out at the end of the Pleistocene. There is also evidence that ground sloths and early humans used the same caves, but not necessarily at the same time.

See giant ground sloths and more on the Museum's fourth floor! We're open daily from 10 am–5 pm. Plan your visit.

Photo: Image no. 324981 / © AMNH Library

[bobnichollsart]

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology…

In 2020 I illustrated LOCKED IN TIME, written by Dr Dean Lomax - Palaeontologist. Here's my "Natural Born Diggers" painting, depicting two young Lestodon playing in the dirt and adults digging tunnels behind.

Locked in Time | Columbia University Press

Fossils allow us to picture the forms of life that inhabited the earth eons ago. But we long to know more: how did these animals actually be

[knuppitalism-with-ue]

Another sketch brought to you by #paleostream

A Lestodon waiting for the heat of the day to ease, just as the caiman next to it. The bigger the burrow the bigger the roommates.

[dinodorks]

Lestodon armatus 

by Kurt Andreas

[amnhnyc]

Giant ground sloths such as Lestodon lived in South America and became extinct 30,000 years ago. Directly related to sloths that are still alive today, Lestodon were far bigger, measuring approximately 15 feet from head to tail and weighing an estimated 5,710 pounds! There is evidence that ground sloths and early humans used the same caves, but not necessarily at the same time. Lestodon is considered an "armored mammal," as evidenced by the bony plates found in its skin. 

Learn more about giant ground sloths and see a Lestodon skeleton in the Museum's Hall of Primitive Mammals: https://goo.gl/56LZWz

[amnhnyc]

Next time you eat guacamole, thank a giant ground sloth—like the Lestodon! These 15-foot animals ate avocados whole, traveled, and then pooped, depositing the pits in new places. Most mammals couldn't handle large seeds, so it was up to the giant ground sloths and other megafauna to disperse (and fertilize!) avocados. Giant ground sloths went extinct about 13,000 years ago, but the avocado lives on. See our Instagram Story for more fossil photos. Photo: AMNH/D. Finnin

[northernvehemence]

Mammals mammals mammals.  Including my favorite animal of all time, the Megaloceros.  Dem antlers.  BF

[granthilderbrandt]

"Peace out" was invented by the Lestodon in the Pleistocene Epoch.