Metabolic skinflint or spendthrift? Insights into ground sloth integument and thermophysiology revealed by biophysical modeling and clumped isotope paleothermometry.

Unlabelled: Remains of megatheres have been known since the 18th -century and were among the first megafaunal vertebrates to be studied. While several examples of preserved integument show a thick coverage of fur for smaller ground sloths living in cold climates such as and , comparatively very little is known about megathere skin. Assuming a typical placental mammal metabolism, it was previously hypothesized that megatheres would have had little-to-no fur as they achieved giant body sizes.