Mylodon

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Mylodon

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Xenarthra
Family:	Mylodontidae
Genus:	Mylodon

The Mylodon was a giant ground sloth that lived in the Patagonia area of South America until roughly 10,000 years ago.

The Mylodon weighed about 200 kilograms and stood up to 3 meters tall. It ate trees and leaves, and was probably raised and eaten by the local inhabitants. There are caves in Chile that have well documented records of this animal's existence and are open to tourist visits. There is even speculation that there are still some living in the remote unexplored forests of the Magallanes Region.

Mylodonts were a smaller form of ground sloth, approximately ox-sized and over seven feet tall when standing on their hind legs. They were related to the huge Megatherium and the smaller modern three-toed sloths and two-toed sloths. The genus supposedly died out about 10,000 years ago.

[edit] Recent Survival Claims

It has been claimed that small populations of Mylodons survived long past 8,000 years BP, and possibly as late as the 1500s. It is claimed to be documented in a drawing on the Piri Reis map of 1513, and bones with skin still attached were found by Charles Darwin on the beach of Bahia Blanca in 1834.^{[citation needed]}

A picture of a mylodon, or something resembling it, was drawn in 'The Illustrated Record of Strange Countries' written in China in 1430.^{[citation needed]} Gavin Menzies speculates that some of the creatures were brought back to China on the Treasure Fleets of Zheng He as a gift to the Emperor. However, considering the lack of any compelling evidence whatsoever for a Chinese visit to Patagonia during this period, these claims should be treated with the utmost skepticism.^[1]