"But going head to head with a sloth, the chances are that you might come off badly." "If you were chasing a small rabbit or something, little risk associated," he added. Hunting an animal the size of a giant sloth, with long arms and sharp claws, "would have come with huge amounts of risk," said Bournemouth University geology professor Matthew Bennett, senior author of the research, published in the journal Science Advances. The researchers found what they call "flailing circles," rounded heel prints and knuckle and claw prints where it looks like the animal reared up on its hind legs to defend itself with its front limbs. Where the human tracks approach the sloth tracks, the animal suddenly changes direction. One human appears to draw near a sloth on tip-toe. In some of the prints, the humans walked in the sloth tracks, even though the stride of a giant sloth was longer than that of a human. (Photo credit: Alex McClelland, Bournemouth University) Further, these humongous beasts dug up by using bare hands, as claw marks were left imprinted in the walls of the tunnels.Reconstruction based on fossil footprint evidence shows how human hunters stalked giant ground sloth to distract them before trying to land a killing blow. Meaning, the Brazilian tunnels were built by generations of extinct giant sloths, one after the other. They also manifest the ability to plan since some tunnels were built in portion but were continued later. What baffles Frank and his team is that, apparently, Megatherium may have worked in groups. Megatherium dug other tunnels are more complex, teeming with junctions and branches, according to Popular Mechanics. The extinct giant sloth built some of them that are as long as 2,000 feet long. When the tunnels were first found in 2000, Brazilian scientist Heinrich Frank counted his discovery of staggering 1,500 tunnels already. This feature, together with short but sizeable tail, is attributed to their slow motion. Unlike their modern cousins, extinct giant sloths have robust bone construction. It is believed that Megatherium walked alongside early men and through the dawn of civilization. The extinct giant sloths lived during the Holocene period, right after the decline of the dinosaurs. The Megatherium can grow to as high as twice the size of grown men when standing upright, according to Prehistoric Wildlife. However, it is believed that they are omnivores as well, given their size which can scavenge or crush smaller animals. These mega creatures are thought to be a primary herbivore. Tens of thousands of years ago, extinct giant sloths roamed South America.
Since these shelters aren't cramped to provide protection against the elements and predators, why did extinct giant sloths build them anyway? Is the Megatherium capable of using digging tools? These are the questions that baffle the researchers today.
The ceilings are high enough for tall men to explore unobstructed and without the need to crouch low. Found deep in the jungles of Brazil, these tunnels are large enough for scientists to walk through. An extinct species of giant ground sloths called Megatherium are efficient tunnel diggers.
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