Collection: Ground Sloth

One of the most iconic Ice Age Mammals, Ground Sloths are several groups of large ground dwelling animals within the sloth family (suborder Folivora). They first appeared about 35 million years ago and spread out throughout South America, the Caribbean, and eventually North America about 2.7 million years ago. Unlike the notoriously slow tree sloths, ground sloths were huge active herbivores with some species reaching the size of modern elephants! Like modern tree sloths, ground sloths had long arms with huge claws. However, while their arboreal contemporaries used these traits to cling to trees, ground sloths used their clawed arms to pull down branches (if not entire trees) to snack on leaves, dig up roots, and deliver a fearsome blow to any predator that dared harass one!