The size of the crown of the tooth in question
is not less than two inches and a quarter; and whether carnivorous
or not, it indicates an animal of a size exceeding that of the
largest of existing Lions.
[Illustration: Fig. 258.--Skull of _Diprotodon Australis_, greatly
reduced. Post-Pliocene, Australia.]
[Illustration: Fig. 259.--Skull of _Thylacoleo_. Post-Pliocene,
Australia. Greatly reduced. (After Flower.)]
The order of the _Edentates_, comprising the existing Sloths,
Ant-eaters, and Armadillos, and entirely restricted at the present
day to South America, Southern Asia, and Africa, is one alike
singular for the limited geographical range of its members, their
curious habits of life, and the well-marked peculiarities of
their anatomical structure. South America is the metropolis of
the existing forms; and it is an interesting fact that there
flourished within Post-Pliocene times in this continent, and to
some extent in North America also, a marvellous group of extinct
Edentates, representing the living Sloths and Armadillos, but
of gigantic size. The most celebrated of these is the huge
_Megatherium Cuvieri_ (fig. 260) of the South American Pampas.
The Megathere was a colossal Sloth-like animal which attained a
length of from twelve to eighteen feet, with bones more massive
than those of the Elephant.
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