Like the Megatherium, the _Mylodon_ closely resembled the Sloth, and it belonged exclusively to the New World. Smaller than the Megatherium, it differed from it chiefly in the form of the teeth. These organs presented only molars with smooth surfaces, indicating that the animal fed on vegetables, probably the leaves and tender buds of trees. As the Mylodon presents at once hoofs and claws on each foot, it has been thought that it formed the link between the hoofed, or ungulated animals and the Edentates. Three species are known, which lived in the pampas of Buenos Ayres. In consequence of some hints given by the illustrious Washington, Mr. Jefferson, one of his successors as President of the United States, discovered, in a cavern of Western Virginia, the bones of a species of gigantic Sloth, which he pronounced to be the remains of some carnivorous animal. They consisted of a femur, a humerus, an ulna, and three claws, with half a dozen other bones of the foot. These bones Mr. Jefferson believed to be analogous to those of the lion. Cuvier saw at once the true analogies of the animal. The bones were the remains of a species of gigantic Sloth; the complete skeleton of which was subsequently discovered in the Mississippi, in such a perfect state of preservation that the cartilages, still adhering to the bones, were not decomposed. Jefferson called this species the _Megalonyx_. It resembled in many respects the Sloth. Its size was that of the largest ox; the muzzle was pointed; the jaws were armed with cylindrical teeth; the anterior limbs much longer than the posterior; the articulation of the foot oblique to the leg; two great toes, short, and armed with long and very powerful claws; the index finger more slender, and armed also with a less powerful claw; the tail strong and solid: such were the salient points of the organisation of the _Megalonyx_, whose form was a little slighter than that of the _Megatherium_. [Illustration: Fig. 189.--Mylodon robustus.]