Pleistocene Megaherbivores Foraging in South American Tropical Jungles

3 megaherbivores roamed South American tropical forests during the late Pleistocene. A megaherbivore is an animal that weighs in the tons. Eremotherium, an extinct species of ground sloth, was the largest, growing to 15 feet long and weighing as much as 12,000 pounds. Notiomastodon platensis and Toxodon platensis were massive animals as well. A new study of these 3 species determined they were browsers that mostly fed in closed canopy jungles and tropical woodlands. The authors of the study analyzed the tooth wear and bone chemistry from numerous specimens of these species to come to this conclusion. Location of where the specimens used in this study came from. From the below referenced paper. Graph showing diet of the 3 species discussed in this blog entry. They all thrived in forested environments, but 2 specimens of notiomastodons came from animals that could survive in wooded grasslands as well. Deviant art AI came up with some good images of mastodons foraging in tropical…