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Mar 2024

Indigenous Peoples and Ancient Megafauna

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In Punta Arenas, I paid a visit to Maggiorino Borgatello museum to speak with the curator.

Claw belonging to Mylodon. For more on the ancient ground sloth, see my previous post from Argentina.

Recreation of a scene featuring indigenous Fuegian people

Indigenous person accompanied by now extinct Fuegian dog, also known as a Yagán or Patagonian dog. Experts believe certain indigenous peoples possessed a small dog, whereas others tamed and domesticated local foxes. One of the original names of South American foxes was dusicyon, which may have been tamed or used as a hunting aid. The Warrah, which Darwin encountered in the Falklands, is related to the same dusicyon genus, raising the possibility that indigenous peoples had domesticated the Warrah on the mainland, and later transported the animal to the Falklands in canoes (for more, see my previous post).

Fuegian dog

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