Cueva del Milodón Natural Monument is a Natural Monument located in the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an Patagonia, northwest of Puerto Natales and north of Punta Arenas. The monument is situated along the flanks of Cerro Benitez. It comprises several

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

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, 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, 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 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.

Animal remains

The cave is named after the large ground sloth '' Mylodon'' which has been found at the site. Other animals found at the site include the equine '' Hippidion'', the saber-toothed cat '' Smilodon'' and the large camel-like ungulate '' Macrauchenia''

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

Animal remains

Human remains

Panorama

See also

References