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The Illinois State Museum makes a Giant Ground Sloth
Molds made from fossils found in Ohio of an extinct Ice Age mammal called Jefferson’s Giant Ground Sloth
Why is this animal called Jefferson’s Giant Ground Sloth, and what is a Megalonyx jeffersoni ?
The sloth skeleton from Darke County, Ohio
Making a cast of a rib
Patching seams on the sloth pelvis
After finishing the seams, the unpainted casts will be assembled – like a giant model
Team Work
To assemble the skeleton, holes were drilled in the casts, then steel rods & tubes were inserted
Paul used a torch to heat the steel rods, making them bendable
Paul welded the steel using an electric arc welder
Paul did the metal work & I patched the holes with fiberglass & resin
Lots of metal work & lots of resin -- this step took us a couple of months.
After 10 + months, we produced a fully articulated replica of Jefferson’s Giant Ground Sloth. Hidden within the “bones,” the internal steel framework gives the illusion of a free-standing skeleton.
After some minor patchwork, the sloth skeleton is ready to be painted
I like to paint the sloth after it is fully assembled.
The painted skeleton is disassembled into the eight sections, loaded on a moving van, & transported to its permanent home.
Exhibit installation
Jefferson’s Giant Ground Sloth on exhibit with replicas of the American Mastodont and the Giant Beaver educating Illinois State Museum visitors about the Ice Age
Author:
Mona Colburn
E-mail:
colburn@museum.state.il.us