Thus the thigh-bone is nearly thrice
the thickness of the same bone in the largest of existing Elephants,
its circumference at its narrowest point nearly equalling its
total length; the massive bones of the shank (tibia and fibula)
are amalgamated at their extremities; the heel-bone (calcaneum)
is nearly half a yard in length; the haunch-bones (ilia) are
from four to five feet across at their crests; and the bodies
of the vertebrae at the root of the tail are from five to seven
inches in diameter, from which it has been computed that the
circumference of the tail at this part might have been from five
to six feet. The length of the fore-foot is about a yard, and
the toes are armed with powerful curved claws. It is known now
that the Megathere, in spite of its enormous weight and ponderous
construction, walked, like the existing Ant-eaters and Sloths,
upon the outside edge of the fore-feet, with the claws more or
less bent inwards towards the palm of the hand. As in the great
majority of the Edentate order, incisor and canine teeth are
entirely wanting, the front of the jaws being toothless. The
jaws, however, are furnished with five upper and four lower molar
teeth on each side. These grinding teeth are from seven to eight
inches in length, in the form of four-sided prisms, the crowns of
which are provided with well-marked transverse ridges; and they
continue to grow during the whole life of the animal.
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