A fossilized skeleton of a giant lazy, which could weigh up to four tons, was updated south of the village of Maripasoula, near the Maroni which marks the border with Suriname.
He culminated four meters when he was drawn on his rear legs and could weigh up to four tons. The discovery in Guyana of the fossilized skeleton of a giant lazy, species extinct 12,000 years ago and which could weigh up to four tons, is an immense step forward in the knowledge, for the paleontologist Pierre-Olivier Antoine.
“This is the first rest of this megafauna extinct found in Guyana and the first of this type found in France, we will work on a blank page,” enthuses this researcher of the Institute of Sciences of the Sciences. Evolution of Montpellier. Pierre-Olivier Antoine directed the expedition that identified the fossilized skeleton of a giant lazy, south of the village of Maripasoula, near the Maroni, which marks the border with Suriname.
Current reconstructions give Ermotherium Laurillardi, this is the name of the species, the appearance of a bear, but he was herbivorous. The founded specimen was a juvenile, specifies the paleontologist. The first residues of the fossil were updated at the end of 2020 by Garimpeiros, clandestine orpalers, which transmitted, through an intermediary, the information to Amazon Park agents of Guyana. The regional archeology services were then alerted the paleontologists, dispatched on the spot.
“Dimensions close to an elephant”
At a depth of about four meters, “the Garimpeiros have surely found a complete skeleton”, according to Professor Antoine, but they could not extract him entirely. Many bones have fallen into dust, altered by the acidity of Guyanese soil. Scientists have recovered elements of the jaw, skull, a radius, a vertebra and a coast.
“It was a terrestrial animal and not arboriculty, explains Pierre-Olivier Antoine, but with dimensions close to an elephant.” According to the knowledge of his biotope, he lived in a savannah environment, which has become today a tropical forest. In other areas of South America, the species has been contemporary of the human, who even represented him on parietal paintings, but in Guyana, Eremotherium Laurillaardi did not cross the man.
“We hope to find other fossils of megafaune,” continues Pierre-Olivier Antoine. The presence of insects and a fish tooth among the remained remained suggests that other skeletons could be retained. The paleontologist promises that the bones of this giant lazy will be returned to Guyana at the end of their analysis in the hexagon.