Scientists believe the animal ate grass, shrubs and trees, using its long arms and claws to pull down foliage. It was believed to be a distant relative of present-day anteaters and smaller tree sloths in Central and South America. Remains of about 100 Harlan's sloths have been discovered in North and South America in the past century, said Steven Hackenberger, chairman of CWU's anthropology department. But the bones found near Quincy are believed to contain enough protein to render a DNA sample. If so, it would be the first such sample from a Harlan's sloth, Hackenberger said.
Tests now are under way.
The discovery follows two anthropological finds from the same region that have yielded new information about the history of humans east of the Cascade Mountains. The Clovis spear points found in East Wenatchee in 1987 are believed to be about 10,000 years old. And the Kennewick Man bones found in the shallows of the Columbia River in the Tri-Cities in 1996 are estimated at more than 9,000 years old. Hackenberger credited the sloth's discovery to Bishop and Bishop's wife, Jeanne Range. After Bishop unearthed the bones, Range spent the next three months sifting through the dirt in her spare time.