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These elephant-sized sloths existed before the Ice Age

author:Cantonese Extraordinary Film and Television Series

Most people have heard of the woolly mammoth. But another group called giant beasts roamed the Earth even before the Ice Age.

These elephant-sized sloths existed before the Ice Age

sloth

Behemoths are one of the largest known land mammals, behind mammoths and an ancient rhinoceros, Paraceratherium.

This giant elephant-sized creature weighs up to 8,800 pounds and can grow up to 20 feet long from head to tail. Their size may make them move very slowly, but they may not have to worry about being attacked by other animals.

These elephant-sized sloths existed before the Ice Age

They were considered herbivores, and their huge size allowed them to easily reach the leaves of large trees. A giant behemoth can basically use its two hind legs and tail as a "tripod" to support the rest of its body, while tearing branches from trees with large, pointed claws. Giant beasts have five claws on each foot, and they can grow up to a foot long, and some theories say they can even stab other animals with their claws!

These elephant-sized sloths existed before the Ice Age

Much of what we know today comes from the work of paleontologist George Cuvier, who discovered the first fossilized giant beast in 1788.

The great sloths were just one of many species of ground sloths that are now extinct and differ from the smaller modern sloths we know today.

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