TUALATIN, Ore. -- In addition to great wine, the Willamette Valley could also soon be known for giant sloths.
Scientists now believe prehistoric bones discovered in Tualatin belong to a gigantic Harlan’s Ground Sloth.
The beast weighed three-to-four tons and stretched up to 20 feet long. The bones were originally discovered in the early 70's near where the Durham Wastewater Treatment Plant now sits.
For decades, scientists thought they belonged to a Mastodon. But recently a Portland State University graduate student studying the bones noticed something strange about them. They belonged to an animal that could stand upright.
"People knew that it was one of these fossilized forms of an ancient creature and they had found mastodon and they assumed it was a mastodon bone," said PSU Anthropology Professor Virginia Butler.
But with the help of a national expert the student determined the bones were those of a gigantic sloth. An animal that likely looked like the South American tree-dwelling sloth but much, much bigger.
"It was a big one. If I’m 5'5" ... it was 8 foot and 20 feet long. I wouldn't want to meet it," laughed Yvonne Addington, President of the Tualatin Historical Society.
Scientists now hope to find more giant sloth bones to better understand the creature and out prehistoric past.
The bones are currently on display at the Tualatin Historical Society.
