Darwin's Fossil Mammals - Scelidotherium leptocephalum

Specimen number: NHMUK PV M 82206

Specimen links:

Taxon: Scelidotherium leptocephalum

Description: Partial skeleton (including casts of original specimens which no longer exist)

Site: Punta Alta, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

Age: Late Pleistocene (between 129,000 and 11,700 years old)

Collection: Collected on 1st September 1833 by Charles Darwin

Comments: This partial skeleton was found embedded in a block of sandstone which had come loose from the cliff. Parts of the skeleton were still preserved in life position and Darwin speculated that much of the soft tissue must have been present when the animal was buried. Darwin was particularly interested to see that the shells adhering to the block were the same species he had observed currently living in that same bay. This impressed upon Darwin that the bones themselves were relatively recent in age. We now know that this animal became extinct less than 12,000 years ago. The skeleton was a completely new species of ground sloth, called Scelidotherium leptocephalum.

In the case of the Scelidotherium, it is quite certain that the whole skeleton was held together by its ligaments, when deposited in the gravel in which I found it.

-- Darwin, C. R. 1846. Geological observations on South America. Being the third part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle, under the command of Capt. Fitzroy, R.N. during the years 1832 to 1836. Smith Elder and Co, London. Page 85.

… the most perfect skeleton … must have been washed entire to near the place where found. & therefore a very modern animal coeval with present shells … the different parts of skeleton were going nearly in their proper part of position … & the whole mass broke from some part of the cliff or bed & left where it now stands

-- Darwin, C. 1833. Geological Diary. Transcribed by Kees Rookmaaker, edited by John van Wyhe (Darwin Online, ). Bahia Blanca. (appendix) (1833) CUL-DAR32.74.

The video shows casts of the skeleton made prior to its preparation from matrix superimposed on a drawing of the skeleton from the publication first describing it (Owen 1838-1840). The casts then move into anatomical position and the original bones of the skeleton which survived the WWII bombing are shown in pink. Finally, a reconstruction of the animal as it would have been in life is revealed.

Last updated	unknown
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License	Creative Commons Non-Commercial (Any)
Created	3 years ago
id	20194861-ecda-43fe-8272-50e9694489c6
linked specimen	abbd1909-5df8-4b71-8123-7fb55f48c906
metadata modified	3 years ago
package id	ffd2d455-c0e5-4eb6-85c3-da8ed1e088d3
position	27
resource group	$genus
state	active

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Scelidotherium leptocephalum – partial skeleton

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Scelidotherium leptocephalum – partial skeleton

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