EL PASO DAILY HERALD — AUGUST 11, 1900
HUNTING BIG GAME ♢ A London Newspaper Hopes to
Find Giant Sloths in Patagonia
The London Daily Express has got up an expedition to Patagonia to find whether the mylodon, or giant sloth, still exists in the mountains there.
The fact that scientists believe these giants of prehistoric times still exist in flesh and blood was brought to light in a lecture by Professor Ray Lancaster in London, who said:
“It Is quite possible, but I don’t want to say more than that. I believe the giant ground sloth still exists in some of the mountainous regions of Patagonia.”
Professor Lancaster concluded his interesting lecture by showing a colored representation of a mylodon as the best authorities consider him to have appeared or as perhaps he does today appear in the lower portion of the Andes.
These sloths attained an enormous length. The skeleton of one of the same family found recently in Wyoming measured 135 feet.
They had powerful hind legs and a tail of enormous strength, much resembling that of a kangaroo, but of giant proportions. They could stand upright, and it is believed that they subsisted mostly on the tender tops of trees.
Descendants of the sloth are still found in Central and South America, but they are comparatively small. The modern sloths seldom if ever stand upright. They cling to the lower side of branches, and when one enters a tree he
