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Re: Gravigrades
>Some folks have an Edentata within the Xenarthra. Anyone know exactly what the
>'Gravigrada' is though?
The gravigrades were the giant sloths, AFAIK. Gravis in latin means heavy,
and there's no doubt some giant sloths wer every much so!
>I have never seen anyone suggest that megatheres were insectivorous, and
>there's
>no reason to suspect that they were. Their big guts, large body size and deep-
>rooted, constantly-growing molars are very suggestive of herbivory - coprolites
>prove that they were.
As well, they woudl have to eat damn large amounts of insects, and could
easily wipe out a whole ant colony just for one meal! I don't think
insects have ever been preyed upon by very large animals. It's just a too
inefficeint food source for large species.
As for there claws, they could have also been used for protection from
predators, or even inter=species mating-related fights.
Ciao!
Ben...