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Glite Dictionary
megathere

megathere

9.9
A very large extinct animal like a ground sloth that lived in ancient America
  • noun
  • /ˈmɛɡəˌθɪr/
  • Specialized
translation icon : megaterio
  • The fossilized remains of a megathere were discovered in a South American cave.

Examples

  • A full skeleton of the megathere is displayed at the natural history museum.

  • The megathere was one of the largest mammals to roam the Earth.

  • Paleontologists study the megathere to learn about prehistoric ecosystems.

  • Fossils of the megathere have been discovered in South America.

  • A full skeleton of the megathere is displayed at the natural history museum.

  • Paleontologists study the megathere to learn about prehistoric ecosystems.

  • The fossilized remains of a megathere were discovered in a South American cave.

Synonyms

ground sloth
vsmegathere
  • US
1 9.6

A very large extinct mammal with long claws that lived on land in the Americas long ago

is the gigantic form found across the Americas in those epochs
Megatherium
vsmegathere
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A very large extinct ground sloth from South America that lived long ago

is a broader American giant covering both Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs
megatherian mammal
vsmegathere
  • Specialized
9.9

A large extinct ground sloth from South America that lived during the Ice Age

is the more general gigantic form found across American Pliocene and Pleistocene
megatherian
vsmegathere
  • Specialized
9.9

A very large extinct ground sloth that lived in South America long ago

is the single gigantic type recorded in the Pliocene and Pleistocene Americas
megatheriid
vsmegathere
  • Specialized
9.9

A very large ground sloth that lived in South and Central America and is now extinct

is the particular gigantic American form limited to Pliocene and Pleistocene

Surface Forms

megathere singular
megatheres plural

Morphology

megathere = mega + ther

Although the word begins with the productive combining form mega-, the remaining element is a learned classical root for 'beast' and is not recognizable to most learners, so the meaning is not recoverable from the parts.

Etymology

Megathere comes from Greek parts mega- ('large') and -therion ('beast'), and the mega- part is the same 'large' you see in megawatt. So a megathere is literally a 'large beast', which fits this giant extinct ground sloth.