Sloths

Oh, sure, everyone likes sloths. But did you know that modern day sloths are descended from the mighty Megatherium, a giant ground sloth that lived 2-8 million years ago? (I would say they "roamed the earth" except I'm not sure how active they were.)

According to http://www.unmuseum.org/:

The giant ground sloth was one of the enormous creatures that thrived during the ice ages. Looking a little bit like an oversized hamster, it probably fed on leaves found on the lower branches of trees or bushes. The largest of these ground sloths was Megatherium which grew to the size of a modern elephant with a weight of over five tons.


Giant sloths had very large, dangerous-looking claws. Despite their size they were probably only used to strip leaves or bark from plants. Their teeth were small and blunt in keeping with their herbivore diet. Examinations of their hip bones suggests that they could stand on their hind legs to extend their grazing as high as twenty feet.