Giant ground sloth (Megatherium)
3.5 m (11.48 ft)
Standing height on hind legs
An elephant-sized sloth from Ice Age South America, standing on its hind legs. Up to 3.5 m (12 ft) tall standing on its hind legs.
Published
How big is that?
3.5 m is 2 times an adult man and 13% of a blue whale.
Giant ground sloth is the 15th largest of the 31 Prehistoric Giants objects, and the 38th smallest of the 109 objects across all three SizeItUp games.
Closest in size from the other games: Perseverance (Mars rover) (Cosmic Scale), 3 m long and Voyager's dish (High-gain antenna) (Cosmic Scale), 3.66 m across.
Size comparison
To scale, smallest to largest: Giant ground sloth in orange beside the Prehistoric Giants objects nearest in size, in teal.
| Object | Size | vs Giant ground sloth |
|---|---|---|
| Komodo dragon (Large adult)The largest living lizard, measured nose to tail tip. | 3 m long | 86% of the size |
| African bush elephant (Adult male)The largest land animal alive today. Measured at the shoulder. | 3.2 m tall | 91% of the size |
| Giant ground sloth (Megatherium) | 3.5 m tall | – |
| Saltwater crocodile (Adult male)The largest living reptile, measured snout to tail. | 5 m long | 1.4× bigger |
| Giraffe (Tall male)The tallest animal alive, measured to the top of its horns. | 5.5 m tall | 1.6× bigger |
In other units
| Centimetres | 350 |
|---|---|
| Metres | 3.5 |
| Inches | 137.8 |
| Feet | 11.48 |
| Yards | 3.828 |
How it's measured
Standing height on hind legs. Natural History Museum, London.
Sources
- nhm.ac.uk: On its hind legs, M. americanum would have stood a full 3.5 metres tall.
Checked against the source on .
Could you have guessed it by eye?
Giant ground sloth is one of the objects in Prehistoric Giants, a daily size comparison game: you stretch a shape to the size you think is right beside one you know.