Professor Owen concludes that the Mylodon,
having partly exposed the roots of a living tree
by means of its powerful front claws, adapted for
digging, was accustomed to rear itself up on the
broad tripod formed by its two immense hind
feet and its strong tail, and embracing the trunk
of the tree with its fore feet, put forth all its
mighty strength in striving to overthrow it. "The
tree being thus partly undermined and firmly
grappled with, the muscles of the body, the pelvis,
and the hind limbs, animated by the nervous
influence of the unusually large spinal cord, would
combine their forces with those of the anterior
members in the efforts at prostration. And now
let us picture to ourselves the massive frame of
the Megatherium, convulsed with the mighty
wrestling, every vibrating fibre reacting upon its
bony attachment with a force which the strong
and sharp crests and apophyses loudly bespeak,—extraordinary must have been the strength
and proportions of that tree, which, rocked to
and fro, to right and left, in such an embrace,
could long withstand the efforts of its ponderous assailant."
The Mylodon, like the Aï, just described, was a leaf-eater, as the similar structure of its teeth witnesses; its weight and its bulk would preclude it from climbing ; but by thus overturning the trees (which in dense forests, we may observe, have but a superficial hold of the ground) it was enabled to feast on the abundant foliage at its ease.
In its daily performance of such feats as these, the Mylodon must have been occasionally subject to heavy blows from the falling trunks, or the snapping branches. To guard against injuries
