Megafauna 3D
Join us to discover the fossils of the animals that lived in South America 10,000 years ago. Giant sloths, saber-toothed tigers, glyptodonts and many other prehistoric mammals.
Join us to discover the fossils of the animals that lived in South America 10,000 years ago. Giant sloths, saber-toothed tigers, glyptodonts and many other prehistoric mammals.
These hairy giants could weigh up to several tons and span over 4 meters in length. They were related to the sloths we know today, but due to their large size, they did not live hanging from the trees, they lived on the ground.
These animals were the relatives of the armadillos, although not their predecessors. They were very large with bone carapaces made up of many bony scutes. Some species had powerful tails with spikes or clubs at the ends that could have been used as defense mechanisms.
These are the mammals that stand and walk on the tip of their toes. 10,000 years ago in the Americas it was common to find huge mastodons, relatives of the elephants that live nowadays in Africa. There were also horses like Hippidion – but they became extinct way before the Spaniards brought the living horses from Europe – and other ungulates like Toxodon, one of the strangest animals from the megafauna that lacks modern relatives.
The fiercest predators among the megafauna were the saber-tooth tiger with its 15cm long pointy fangs, and the huge bear Arctotherium that was even larger than its living relative, the North American Grizzly.
How do we know what the saber-toothed tiger ate? How can we identify the different glyptodont species? What to the giant sloths have in common with the small living ones?
Techniques to turn a fossil into a digital 3D image, where are the fossils from and the team behind Megafauna 3D.
How was it and what can it teach us to help us understand the future?