In most respects,
the _Mylodon_ is very like the Megathere; but the crowns of the
molar teeth are flat instead of being ridged. The nearly-related
genus _Megalonyx_, unlike the Megathere, but like the Mylodon,
extended its range northwards as far as the United States.
[Illustration: Fig. 260.--_Megatherium Cuvieri_. Post-Pliocene,
South America.]
Just as the Sloths of the present day were formerly represented
in the same geographical area by the gigantic Megatheroids, so
the little banded and cuirassed Armadillos of South America were
formerly represented by gigantic species, constituting the genus
_Glyptodon_. The _Glyptodons_ (fig. 262) differed from the living
Armadillos in having no bands in their armour, so that they must
have been unable to roll themselves up. It is rare at the present
day to meet with any Armadillo over two or three feet in length;
but the length of the _Glyptodon clavipes_, from the tip of the
snout to the end of the tail, was more than nine feet.
[Illustration: Fig. 261.--Skeleton of _Mylodon robustus_.
Post-Pliocene, South America.]
[Illustration: Fig. 262.--Skeleton of _Glyptodon clavipes_.
Post-Pliocene, South America.]
There are no canine or incisor teeth in the _Glyptodon_, but
there are eight molars on each side of each jaw, and the crowns
of these are fluted and almost trilobed.
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