Emily Chan
“We were able to see that this huge, social creature was able to adapt rather readily to the dry climate, shifting its sustenance to relying upon what was more available or palatable,” Jean Larmon, the lead author of the study, said.
The isotopic analysis also showed the researchers how the species became extinct. Although the sloth was able to forage for different types of food, it likely had a hard time finding water.
It lived during the Last Glacial Maximum when large ice sheets formed and lowered global sea levels. The region now known as Belize was cool and dry.
So, the animal may have gone down into the sinkhole in search of water to drink. However, even standing at 13 feet tall, it had gotten trapped in the pool, which is very steep and approximately 200 feet deep.
Other megafauna fossils were scattered around the area, suggesting that they had met their ends in the same way.
Experts don’t know exactly why the ancient giant sloth went extinct, but they don’t think climate change was the only cause.
The arrival of human beings in the region 12,000 to 13,000 years ago may have contributed to its demise.
