Discovery and Species
Fossils of the best-known species, the Shasta ground sloth (N. shastensis), have been found throughout western North America, especially in the American Southwest. The most famous specimen was recovered from a lava tube at Aden Crater in New Mexico and was found to still have hair and tendon preserved. This nearly complete specimen is on display at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut. Numerous dung boluses belonging to Nothrotheriops have also been found throughout the southwestern United States and have provided an insight into the diet of these extinct animals.
Although N. shastensis was one of the smallest ground sloth species, it still reached 2.75 metres (9.0 ft) from head to tail and weighed 250 kilograms (550 lb) (one-quarter of a tonne) - much smaller than some of its contemporary species such as the Eremotherium, which could easily weigh over two tons and be 6 metres (20 ft) long. It had large, stout hindlegs and a powerful, muscular tail that it used to form a supporting tripod whenever it shifted from a quadrupedal stance to a bipedal one (i.e. Eremotherium).
Read more about this topic: Nothrotheriops
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