GROUND SLOTH FAMILY: Stories of the Imagination

One of the poster Mammals of prehistory was the massive Megatherium americanum (Giant Ground Sloth) of the extinct Ground Sloth Family.  This huge Mammal stood at twenty feet (six meters) and weighed about 4.4 tons (4 metric tons). As big as a modern Elephant, Megatherium was one of the largest Mammals ever to walk on land.  Moreover, this Ground Sloth ate over seventy different types of plants and as well as scavenged for meat.

            The diverse Family of Ground Sloths includes more than just Giant Ground Sloth.  This extinct Family as well as the Family of Modern Sloths belongs to the Order of Xenarthra (meaning “without teeth”).  Modern Two-toed Sloths (Choloepidae) evolved from the Flat-footed Ground Sloths (Megalonychidae).  Meanwhile, Three-toed Sloths (Bradypodidae) arose from the Browsing Ground Sloths (Megatheriidae).

            The Flat-footed Family of Ground Sloths walked on the bottoms of their feet instead of on their sides like other Sloths.  The Browsing Ground Sloths featured both the Giant Ground Sloths and the smaller Ground Sloths such as Shasta Ground Sloth (Nothrotheriops shastensis) of North America.  Meanwhile, Grazing Ground Sloths (Mylodontidae) such as Harlan’s Ground Sloth (Paramylodon harlani) lived in small herds out in open country.

            Although many species of Ground Sloths became large, some still remained as small as cats.  These Ground Sloths lived on the islands in the Caribbean Sea until the mid-1500s.  They, like every other Ground Sloth, had sharp claws and interlocking small boney plates under their skin.  Serving as chain mail, these plates made Ground Sloths virtually indestructible.

            By sparking people’s imaginations, Ground Sloths prompted humans to want to learn more about the world around them.  First discovered in Argentina in 1787, the fossils of Megatherium shocked people.  Her huge size created a world-wide sensation since nobody thought that animals could become that big.  Megatherium challenged people of that time to make sense of the concept of extinct and giant Animals. 

Meanwhile, the bones of Jefferson’s Ground Sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonii) were found in a cave in West Virginia (U.S.).  After receiving the bones of this Ground Sloth, Thomas Jefferson put them on display at the White House and later in his home at Monticello.  His intense curiosity about the life of this particular species of Ground Sloth prompted others to begin to study paleontology in earnest. (Megalonyx jeffersonii was named for him.)

Originating in Patagonia, Ground Sloths went to North America during the Great American Faunal Interchange (about eight million years ago (mya) to three mya).  They rafted and island hopped from South America to the north, traveling as far as the Yukon Territory.  Meanwhile, the last of the Ground Sloths went extinct on the Caribbean islands during the 1500s.  However there are rumors that Ground Sloths, now known as Mapinguari by the local people, still roam the Amazon River Basin.

Ground Sloths inspire us to imagine what could be from what we discover.  They invite us to expand the parameters of our world.  We may tell wild stories about Them such as prehistoric peoples once keeping Ground Sloths for food.  However like Jefferson who first thought that they were carnivores, we can change our minds when we uncover more information.  By surprising us around every bend in the road, Ground Sloths encouraged our stories of imagination.  Perhaps once we expand our imaginations further, we may see Ground Sloth in the Amazon as Mapinguari.

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Negative Energy: Sloth

Sloth comes in many forms.  It ranges from being lazy or idle to actively avoiding doing something.  The core meaning of sloth is “the failure to act”.  Time management articles teach the basic of idea of “when you are doing one thing; you are not doing something else”.  Therefore, you have to decide which task is more important.  However, when you want to appear as if you are actually working on the important task, you engage in busy work.  You work around the chore, instead of just doing it.  (This activity is known as “active sloth”.)

On her website, Maria Cilley, an online coach known as “The Fly Lady”, addresses why some people avoid doing housework.  She links it to low-self worth.  She explained that these people do not love themselves enough to merit a clean home.  Therefore the mess in their homes is evidence of how little they value themselves.

The Fly Lady further addresses a corresponding problem of avoidance - perfectionism.  Many people have been taught that if they do not do everything perfectly, then they are not good enough.  For example, vacuuming a room may means moving the furniture instead of just vacuuming around it.  Therefore, these people delay doing the chore.  However, The Fly Lady counters their thinking with “housework done incorrectly still blesses the home.”

I see sloth as a secondary emotion covering the primary emotions of fear and hurt.  Sloth gives people something to focus on while avoiding something else.  To escape from their feelings, people indulge in pleasurable activities.

My experience with sloth involves fear.  During my recovery from major depression, I encountered people who wanted to remain ill.  One man in my group sabotaged his recovery so many times that his doctor fired him.  Remaining sick is familiar and comforting, where as becoming well is frightening and scary.  Moving from the land of the sick to the country of wellness takes true grit and faith in oneself.

If you remain sick, no one will ask you to be responsible.  Instead of becoming an adult, you can stay a child.  This ensures that you will be taken care of by others.  After all, being well means that you cannot check out when things are tough.  Therefore what lies behind the reluctance to recover from major illness is usually fear.

My recent brain injury has prompted me to reconsider what it means to be well.  I struggle daily with my perceptions of my injury. Since the accident there is now three of me, therefore I have to negotiate each day with my various selves.  One “me” is super responsible, and also a perfectionist.  This part urges me to do everything regardless of my limitations.  This self tends to drown out the voices of the others.  I do want to be taken care of, and receive people’s sympathy.  However, I need to be as independent as possible.  Therefore, I need to test to see what is feasible for me to be doing.

In her essay on laziness, Pema Chodron, Buddhist nun, tells people to embrace their laziness.  Stop and listen to what it is telling you.  Once we do that, we can be compassionate towards ourselves.  When we embrace laziness open heartedly, it can heal us.

Sloth helps us to move slowly towards what is hurting us.  It can also prevent us from dealing with it.  What we do when we are confronted with sloth is up to us.  I choose to let sloth heal me.

Works Used:

Chodron, Pema, “Looking into Laziness”, Shambhala Sun, November 1998, http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2286,

Cilley, Maria, The Fly Lady: Your Personal Online Coach, 2011 http://www.flylady.net/,

---, “Time Management”, Mind Tools, 2011, http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_HTE.htm,