Glossotherium – back of skull
Specimen number: PV M 16586
Specimen link: https://data.nhm.ac.uk/object/3e81c21f-721c-47a8-94c6-9bba0e493d36
Taxon: Glossotherium robustum
Description: Fragment from back of skull
Site: Probably found in “valley of the Sarandis”, south of Mercedes, Uruguay
Age: Approximately 12,700 years old
Collection: Acquired by Charles Darwin on 26/11/1833
Comments: This back part of the skull is from an extinct giant ground sloth called Glossotherium. Glossotherium means tongue-beast as Richard Owen, who first described the specimen, reconstructed it as having a long tongue. Owen noticed some similarities between this specimen and the skulls of other ant-eating mammals such as pangolins and speculated that Glossotherium must have had a similar diet. It is now accepted that Glossotherium primarily ate vegetation, including grasses.
It is not clear whether Darwin acquired this specimen at the same time as the iconic Toxodon skull (NHMUK PV M 16560) from an Estancia or whether he visited a stream bed and found it himself. Excitingly Darwin noticed how well the specimen was preserved.
NOVEMBER 26TH.—I set out on my return in a direct line for Monte Video. Having heard of some giant's bones at a neighbouring farm-house on the Sarandis … The people at the farm-house told me that the remains were exposed, by a flood having washed down part of a bank of earth. Near the Toxodon I found the fragments of the head of an animal... The head of this animal … appear so fresh, that it is difficult to believe they have lain buried for ages under ground. The bone contains so much animal matter, that when heated in the flame of a spirit-lamp, it not only exhales a very strong animal odour, but likewise burns with a slight flame.
-- Darwin, C. 1839. Narratives of the surveying voyages of His Majesty’s ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America and the Beagle’s circumnavigation of the globe. In three volumes. Colburn, London. Short title: Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle. [1st ed.]. Volume III. Journal and remarks 1832-1836. Pages 180-182.
In fact there was enough protein (“animal matter”) preserved that we were able to radiocarbon date this specimen nearly 200 years after its discovery. By using a small portion of the bone which had broken away, we were able to determine that this animal died around 12,700 years ago. This is very close to the date when this animal went extinct (probably around 12,000 years ago).
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| Last updated | unknown |
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| License | Creative Commons Non-Commercial (Any) |
| Created | 3 years ago |
| id | 98dc0335-714c-4f7f-9c4f-d33a8500929f |
| linked specimen | 3e81c21f-721c-47a8-94c6-9bba0e493d36 |
| metadata modified | 3 years ago |
| package id | ffd2d455-c0e5-4eb6-85c3-da8ed1e088d3 |
| position | 24 |
| resource group | $genus |
| state | active |