The Skeptics Society & Skeptic magazine

MonsterNEWS:
Sloth in the Media

multiple photos of a dead sloth

Well, the “Montauk Madness” has returned but this time from Panama (Central American, not Florida). According to a news story from Telemetro Televison, the creature was found (and killed) by some teenagers. But there is much wrong with their story — not the least of which is the fact that this isn’t a mysterious creature, it is a dead sloth.

a longer dead corpse of a Sloth

While the rest of the Internet goes crazy for corpses, let us take a moment and review the evidence:

Yes, the corpse is bleached and hairless. No, it is not a mysterious monster. It is perhaps a good thing that most people don’t encounter bloated, bleached animal corpses during the course of their lives. But there are plenty of people who can identify this critter for what it is and failing to do so is just LAZY. (I bet you thought I was going to say “sloth” again didn’t you.)

Want to read more about the identity of this dead sloth? Try Darren Naish’s excellent post on the matter.

And now “fur” some pictures of living sloths…

a living, furred sloth — look at those claws and compare to the corpse.

a different view — note the head

The views expressed on this program are not necessarily the views of the Skeptics Society or Skeptic magazine.