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Exceptional Giant Ground Sloth Skull image 1
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Lot 1082

Exceptional Giant Ground Sloth Skull

27 May 2010, 13:00 EDT
New York

US$50,000 - US$60,000

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Exceptional Giant Ground Sloth Skull

Lestodon armatus
Pleistocene
Pampas Beds, La Paz, Uruguay

One of the most bizarre examples of the gigantic megafauna that lived during the Pliocene and Pleistocene in South America, Lestodon armatus possessed the largest mouth of any Giant Ground Sloth in the fossil record – a feature amply illustrated by the present remarkable specimen. Scientists hypothesize that the wide mouth of this uncommon species was adapted for bulk feeding; rather than eating leaves from branches, it ripped entire plants out of the ground and consumed them whole. Lestodon armatus’ hippopotamus-like skull displays the extraordinarily wide position of the formidable incisor tusks and also the rear grinding teeth characteristic of herbivores. Measuring up to 13 feet in length and weighing up to 3,000 pounds, adult Lestodon armatus individuals probably enjoyed a lifestyle with very few natural predators. The present specimen is an exceptional skull of this uncommon sloth species, a covetable acquisition for any serious fossil collection. Length measures 24in; Height 18 1/2in, Width 12in

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