Science at UM [S01-ep05]: From the Giant Sloth to the Sclerochronology Platform

[Podcast] - Published on November 25, 2021 under Research Centers, Science and Society, Research Structures

This week, Pierre-Olivier Antoine, a paleontologist atISEM, tells us about the discovery of the first giant sloth fossil in French Guiana. In the second half of the program, Maylis Labonne and Franck Ferraton from the Marbec Laboratory take you a tour of the sclerochronology lab.  

And now off to French Guiana, where a strange little creature awaits you. It looks like a Spanish broom, with huge arms ending in three claws à la Freddy Krueger, eyes as round as marbles, and legendary slowness. You’ve recognized it—it’s the sloth, of course—but could you recognize its ancestor?

In late 2020, illegal gold miners unearthed a nugget far more precious than gold: the skeleton ofan Eremotherium laurillardi, or giant sloth, a species that could grow up to 4 meters tall and went extinct 12,000 years ago. From October 12 to 18, Pierre-Olivier Antoine, a paleontologist atISEM, traveled with his team to the site of what he calls a “major discovery” to excavate the maxilla, mandible, radius, and other fossil elements and identify them. He tells us all about this expedition, which was straight out of an Indiana Jones movie.

In the second half of the program, we’ll take you to the Triolet campus for a tour of the sclerochronology lab with Maylis Labonne and Franck Ferraton, who manage to “read” fish otoliths and shark vertebrae to determine their age or even trace the paths they’ve traveled. It’s a true detective’s work that they’re introducing us to today…

At UM Science, you’ve got the program—let’s get started!

Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Report: Aline Périault
Director: Anna Demeulandre

Tune in to the show “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9

Keywords: Science at UM, Research, Science