Researchers found the tooth of a giant sloth — a group of prehistoric mammals — in the municipality of Poço Redondo, in the northwest of the state of Sergipe. The piece supported studies on the possibility of human modifications in dental tissues of animals.
The animal lived in the Pleistocene, a period in Earth’s history that lasted between 2.588 million and 11.7 thousand years, and research using optical tools managed to rule out the influence of wear caused by animals or transport in the environment.
“This evidence manifests past human behavior and its relationship with the ecosystem, highlighting the perception of the surrounding fauna not only as prey or competitors, but also as potential sources of technology and symbolic transformation”, commented the main author of the study published in Scientific ReportsThaís Pansani, from the Smithsonian Institute, United States.
To identify the modifications made to the giant sloth’s tooth, six different types of analysis were used, which showed that the marks were not caused by rodent bites or wear caused by movement at the bottom of a river.
Regular and parallel marks were found on the piece, as well as a change in shape, which were rounded and triangular, different from the originals of known giant sloths.
“The most interesting thing was to demonstrate how multidisciplinary techniques can be useful to contribute to studies of human modifications of fossil and archaeological materials,” said Pansani.
The group of researchers was unable to identify the purpose of the changes made by humans to the mammal’s tooth, however the study rules out the possibility that it was for subsistence.
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This content was originally published in Prehistoric find indicates that humans altered giant sloth teeth on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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