Did you know that enormous caves have been discovered in South America, real tunnels that were created neither by man nor by geological processes? Sometimes the work of researchers leads them to scientific discoveries that are truly incredible.
At the origins of a mystery
It all started when, in August 2015, the geology professor Henry Frank he noted a mysterious, large hole in a hill during a highway commute. Driven by his innate curiosity, the teacher went to the spot he had noticed and entered inside the cavity. The cave was over 4,5 meters long, and the real surprise awaited at the bottom: on the ceiling, dozens of enormous scratches carved into the rock.
The professor immediately understood that the cave was not created by geological forces, nor by human hands. “There is no geological process that produces long tunnels with a circular or elliptical cross section, branching out and going up and down, with scratches on the walls.” From there the beginning of scrupulous research which led to further discoveries. Today we know that these caves, present in Brazil and Argentina, were created by a gigantic now extinct animal. It's about the Megatherium americanum, a sort of "giant sloth" (as it is described) that lived between 8.000 and 10.000 years ago. A creature the size of an African elephant, and very different from today's sloths. Many of these specimens have been found in various excavation sites over the last two centuries. One is kept at the Natural History Museum in London.
An incredible network of caves
In the Rio Grande do Sul area, Frank and his team have discovered over the years over 1.500 caverns created by these ancient animals. The longest stretched for 609 meters and had a height of 1,8 meters. These tunnels were probably dug by groups of sloths over several generations. Have there been any interactions with humans? Probably yes. From the rereading of one 2018 study who analyzed over 200 fossilized footprints, it appears that humans may have hunted these “giant sloths,” despite their size.
The world never ceases to amaze us: on the other hand, you know, we are completely ignorant of it a whole billion years of the history of the planet. What else can he show us?
