Cueva del Milodón Natural Monument is a

Natural Monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, na ...

located in the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

, northwest of

Puerto Natales Puerto Natales is a city in Chilean Patagonia. It is the capital of both the commune of Natales and the province of Última Esperanza, one of the four provinces that make up the Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region in the southernmost part ...

and north of

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Are ...

. The monument is situated along the flanks of

Cerro Benitez Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain". Toponyms ;Bolivia: * Cerro Rico, the "Rich Mountain" containing silver ore near Potosi, Bolivia ;Brazil: * Cerro Branco, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul *Cerro Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, a municip ...

. It comprises several

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s and a rock formation called ''Silla del Diablo'' (Devil's Chair). The monument includes a cave which is notable for the discovery in 1895 of skin, bones and other parts of a ground sloth called '' Mylodon darwini,'' from which the cave takes its name. It is also part of the

End of the World Route The End of the World Route (Spanish: ''Ruta del Fin del Mundo'') is a Chilean touristic scenic route located in the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Region, the most southerly region of the country. The term "end of the world" refers to Chile being ...

, a scenic touristic route.

Milodón Cave

The largest cave in the monument is the long Milodón Cave. It was discovered in 1895 by

Hermann Eberhard Hermann Eberhard (27 February 1852 in Ohlau, Silesia – 30 May 1908) was a 19th-century German explorer credited with western discovery of considerable lands in Patagonia, Chile. Eberhard journeyed by boat up the Seno Última Esperanza to inve ...

, German explorer of Patagonia. He found a large, seemingly fresh piece of skin of an unidentified animal. In 1896 the cave was explored by

Otto Nordenskjöld Nils Otto Gustaf Nordenskjöld (6 December 1869 – 2 June 1928) was a Finnish and Swedish geologist, geographer, and polar explorer. Early life Nordenskjöld was born in Hässleby in Småland in eastern Sweden, in a Finland Swedish family th ...

and later it was recognized that the skin belonged to ''Mylodon'' – an extinct animal which died 10,200–13,560 years ago. In the cave and other caves of the monument have been found remnants of other extinct animals and human remnants. At the entrance of the monument is a life size replica of the prehistoric ''Mylodon'', which was a very large herbivore, somewhat resembling a large bear. It became extinct at the end of the

Pleistocene Epoch The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

Mylodon remains

Investigations determined the survival of the ''Mylodon'' until about 5,000 years ago and confirmed the existence of other animals, such as the "Dwarf Horse" ''

Hippidion ''Hippidion'' (meaning ''little horse'') is an extinct genus of equine that lived in South America from the Late Pliocene to the end of the Late Pleistocene ( Lujanian), between two million and 11,000 years ago. They were one of two lineages of e ...

'', the

saber-toothed cat Machairodontinae is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the family Felidae (true cats). They were found in Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Europe from the Miocene to the Pleistocene, living from about 16 million ...

Smilodon ''Smilodon'' is a genus of the extinct machairodont subfamily of the felids. It is one of the most famous prehistoric mammals and the best known saber-toothed cat. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely rela ...

'' and the

litoptern Litopterna (from grc, λῑτή πτέρνα "smooth heel") is an extinct order of fossil hoofed mammals from the Cenozoic era. The order is one of the five great orders of South American ungulates that were endemic to the continent, until th ...

Macrauchenia ''Macrauchenia'' ("long llama", based on the now-invalid llama genus, ''Auchenia'', from Greek "big neck") was a large, long-necked and long-limbed, three-toed native South American mammal in the order Litopterna. The genus gives its name to its ...

Human remains

Diverse elements of human habitation are found at Cueva del Milodón including fire-fractured rock, lithic tools and human remains. Human habitation at Cueva del Milodón is dated as early as 6000 BC.Calvin J. Heusser (2003) ‘'Ice Age Southern Andes: A Chronicle of Paleoecological Events'‘, Elsevier, 240 pages File:Cueva del Milodon-CTJ-IMG 6807.jpg File:Cueva del Milodon-CTJ-IMG 6811.jpg File:Cueva del Milodon-CTJ-IMG 6809.jpg

Panorama

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cueva del Milodon Natural Monument Milodon Protected areas of Magallanes Region Archaeological sites in Chile Natural monuments of Chile Paleontology in Chile Pleistocene paleontological sites of South America 1895 in paleontology Landforms of Magallanes Region Última Esperanza Province Geology of Magallanes Region

Milodón Cave

Mylodon remains

Human remains

Panorama

See also

References