Jefferson’s Sloth and American Mastodon

These life-size skeletal sculptures were commissioned by the American Philosophical Society as part of two different exhibitions: Jefferson, Science, and Exploration and In Franklin’s Footsteps: 275 Years at the American Philosophical Society. 

The Megalonyx Jefersonii is a species of giant ground sloth that was endemic to North America and became extinct at the end of the last Ice Age around 10,000 years ago. In 1797 Thomas Jefferson presented a paper to the American Philosophical Society in which he incorrectly concluded that the claws of this sloth belonged to a giant lion. The species bears his name as an homage to his mistake. 

The mastodon was celebrated by Thomas Jefferson as proof that the creatures of the New World were not weak and degenerate as suggested by some European scholars, but rather they were large and vigorous, perhaps even larger and more vigorous than those found in Europe.

Photography by Open Eyes Media and Paul Gargagliano