Kaitlyn+B

** By: Kaitlyn B **
 * Fierce or Just a Side Dish? **


 * Were they predators or at the bottom of the food chain?[[image:Giant_Ground_Sloth_1.jpg width="456" height="283" align="left"]] **
 * Giant Ground Sloths were, as the name implies, giant sloths that stayed on the ground and ate leaves off of trees. Giant Ground Sloths had very large and dangerous-looking claws. These claws were not used to kill other animals though, simply to strip leaves or bar **** k from plants. Ground Sloths were strictly herbivores. However, they weren't just fresh meat. Their size and fearsome claws were a formidable defense against p redato  ** ** rs. **


 * Ground Sloths were able to digest coarse and fibrous food such as yucca and agaves. They spent a lot of time resting, we think this is to help aid digestion. The Ground Sloth didn't have many predators due to their size so they were most likely day feeders. It used blunt teeth to grind food before they swallowed it, it’s highly developed cheek muscles helped with this process. **


 * Anyway, Ground Sloths were not bothered by the predators that were around at the time, not even the well-known saber-toothed cat. Although these predators were larger than lions, they could not touch the five-ton Giant Ground Sloth that could deliver fatal blows with its giant limbs. **


 * Pics: [] **
 * By Heinrich Harder (1858-1935) (The Wonderful Paleo Art of Heinrich Harder) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons **
 * [] By en:User:Ballista (from English Wikipedia[1]) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons **