ARE MYLODONS EXTINCT

Dunstan Times, Issue 2087, 30 July 1901, Page 6

ARE MYLODONS EXTINCT

A PUZZLING DISCOVERY. Zoologists are puzzled by the recent discovery in a cave in Patagonia of a skull strongly resembling that, of a myloclon, a species of animal that has been considered long extinct. Fossil remains of mylodons or megatheriums have, says the New York ' Tribune,' been taken from rocks in South America, where the creatures once abounded. A few specimens have also been found in the northern part of the continent. But until now nobody has suspected that the race might still survive. Even as it is, the evidence is not conclusive, but investigations have been set on foot which may possibly lead to more positive results. The megatherium sometimes attained a size greater than that of the biggest rhinoceros. From the tip of its nose to the end of its tail this creature measured from 15ft to 20ft. It was herbivorous in its habits and fond of foliage, which it obtained by sitting up on its hindquarters, bracing itself with a stout tail, and grasping young trees with its paws. Sometimes it entirely uprooted a tree. The nearest the mylodon at the present time, so far as known, are tree-climbing sloths. The extinct species is often called the "ground sloth," to distinguish the two. The modern sloth, however, is no bigger than a large dog—another reason for believing that a long interval must have elapsed since the colossal mylodon flourished in the land. The cave in which the recent discovery was made is situated near Last Hope Inlet, which opens into the Pacific near the southern extremity of the continent. In No-. vember, 1897, Dr F. P. Moreno, director of the La Plata Museum, was engaged in surveying the boundary between Chili and, Patagonia. His duties' brought him to an indentation of Last Hope Inlet called Consuelo Cave. Here he saw hanging on a tree pieces of skin. Upon close inspection he perceived that the inner surface of the hide was studded with small bony patches, like those often found with fossil remains of mylodons, and regarded as a kind of armor. Di' Moreno is himself an expert palaeontologist, and is familiar with the panipean monsters referred to. Upon inquiry he learned that the skin had been found by Argentine officers two years before, and that they had carried away a large portion of it. The remnant was left hanging in a tree. The natives supposed that the hide was that of a cow, and took the bony patches for pebbles that had become embedded in it in some way. Dr Moreno inspected the cave, but in what now seems to have been a rather superficial manner. He found a, few bones that did not possess any special significance, but that was all. Soon afterwards Dr Nordenskjold, the famous naturalist, visited the place and picked up some claws and portions of the skin. Still later, Dr Rudolph Hauthal, geologist of the La Plata Museum, made a more thorough search, doubtless under the direction of Dr Moreno.

This later exploration began by the removal of a stratum containing ishes and ordinary bones, a layer of leaves, aid some llama bones. At length was laid bare what proved to be a bed three feet deep. Here was exhumed the skull, a few pieces of bone-studded hide, the skull of a man, and two awls made from a leg bone i f a dog. The bones of what has been thought to be an extinct species of horse and the skeleton of a cat as big as a tiger (also an extinct species) were likewise found. One of the pieces of mylodon hide was partly burned, and from another it was apparent that an attempt had been made to remove the hair. A large quantity of cut hay was associated with these objects, all of which were contained in a rude chamber formed by two artificial barriers of stone in the cave. From this evidence it appears that a man of sufficient skill and intelligence to make rude instruments of bone, and familiar with the use of lire, had lived in the cave, and had domesticated some of the animals that dwelt with him. It has been suggested that j'erhaps he relied upon the mylodon for milk, and had coaxed the creature inside the cave before killing it. But inasmuch as only the skull and pieces of skin are superficially mentioned in the accounts, it is not clear that the whole animal was ever there. The man had probably eaten the flesh of the mylodon, and was trying to utilise parts of the hide when death overtook him.