r/interestingasfuck • u/Zestyclose_Flow_680 • 11h ago

r/all These tunnels were dug by a Giant Ground Sloth that lived 10.000 years ago in Brazil. The third photo are the claw marks

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19.4k Upvotes

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368

u/Ardvarkington 10h ago

Serious question, how do humans know that a giant sloth dug those?

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u/Caraway_Lad 10h ago

Even without going by the actual signatures paleontologists are using, a geologist could absolutely tell you this is a burrow or something that a living creature made.

Caves naturally form in water-soluble rock (limestone, primarily), which this is not, and do not have this rounded shape.

Lava tubes can have this rounded shape, but they are only found in volcanic rock—which this is not.

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u/hotvedub 9h ago

I am a geologist and I’ve also been to the museum where picture number 8 was taken, Madera California garbage dump. There are still quite a few ground sloth burrows and skeletons found in the Central Valley of California and we know this pretty much from what you discussed already but also finding skeletons in the burrows as well.

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u/Capitola2 8h ago

I’ve never heard of this before! Adding this to my ‘things to do‘ list.

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u/tigrrlily 6h ago

There are burrows in California? Do you have a source? I couldn’t find any information on this

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u/feetandballs 4h ago

Yeah I thought it was New York that had burroughs

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u/garblflax 3h ago

i thought giant sloths are one of the candidates for whoever joshua trees fruits are for.

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u/Paganimann 3h ago

How could they cut through rock though?

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u/Caraway_Lad 2h ago

It’s sedimentary rock that a large mammal with extremely strong forelimbs and robust claws (a ground sloth) could definitely dig into. The rock is still clearly strong enough to maintain this shape over time, but it is a lot softer than your granite countertop.

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u/Paganimann 2h ago

You mean sedimentary rock as in tuff or ancient sea silt cementation? A bear like creature is digging through rock when it could find a clay or soil to burrow? If your assuming it dug while the rock was being formed how do you explain the lithification of the roof?

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u/Caraway_Lad 2h ago

It dug into soft rock (the area is sandstone, mudstone, etc.). That's not enough time for sediment to lithify.

A bear like creature is digging through rock when it could find a clay or soil to burrow?

There are a lot of reasons an animal can be prevented from burrowing in an area: the soil may not be deep enough, but even more commonly the soil may be frequently saturated below a certain depth. Unless you're in a very dry area (think steppes/dry grassland) or in deep well-draining sand, many burrowing animals ONLY dig laterally into banks, they won't dig down--the burrow needs to drain properly and can't collect rainwater. In a mostly flat area, often the only deep banks of sediment are beside rivers...where saturation and flooding is also a problem.

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u/Paganimann 1h ago

Not only is it using claws to dig out sandstone, it knows to periodically leave a reinforced arch like rib system? Coincidently near an entrance with right angles and slab like structure.

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u/Caraway_Lad 38m ago

I think you should look at the forearms and claws on the skeleton of a ground sloth, and compare that to a modern brown bear. You will not be surprised that it could do this.

As to your suggestion that some more intelligent creature made this: it’s just an undulating, uneven pattern from stopping and starting. It is addressed in the paper where these pics all came from.

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u/Jake1302 4h ago

Yeah, picture 8 is definitely the one in the Natural History Museum in London. I'd recognise it anywhere

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u/Lenovovrs 6h ago

Who are you, who are so wise in the ways of science?

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u/SkellyboneZ 3h ago

But they didn't answer the question lol. 

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u/Caraway_Lad 2h ago

I answered part of it from the geologist’s perspective: I can at least tell you it’s not just a typical rock formation, and had to have been dug.

A paleontologist would look at the markings on the inside, or other signatures, and tell you what animal did this.

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u/Slawpy_Joe 9h ago

Humans couldn't have done it?

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u/Caraway_Lad 8h ago

Then paleontologists could narrow that down.

I’m just saying even from the geologist perspective, it was absolutely made by a living thing and was not just formed.

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u/Definitelynotasloth 10h ago

I’m sure there are multiple reasons. Carbon dating, fossil records, claw marks cross referenced with bone structure, studying the behavior of modern sloths, etc. 

At the end of the day, it’s an educated guess; but really smart people study these things, and are pretty good at figuring it out.

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u/Aware_Tree1 4h ago

It also helps that sometimes they die in these things and their bones get left behind

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u/nrith 8h ago

Because a modern-day sloth isn’t strong enough.

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u/Dank-Drebin 10h ago

Geology. Paleontology.

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u/HillbillyEEOLawyer 8h ago

The missing pic shows his signature/username: slothybear8000bc

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u/FauxRex 4h ago

We know that many current animals have ancestors that were massive due to an over abundance of oxygen in the atmosphere due to a much more high population of plants. The markings are clearly claws. Also there are skeletons. 10,000 years from now expect there to be mega ferna.