[2][3] The lack of accurate records and the vagueness of the locality description left much doubt about the original location of the sloth skeleton.
Both Thomas Jefferson and the initial discoverer, Colonel John Stuart, hoped to find the skull of the beast, for the teeth would reveal its proper identity as a carnivore or herbivore.
[4][3] Jefferson is credited for initiating the science of vertebrate paleontology in the United States with the reading of his 1797 paper.
In a footnote to the published article, he corrected his interpretation, comparing the remains to those of a giant ground sloth, Megatherium, from Argentina.
[3] On September 19, 2008, the official news of this significant fossil discovery was released, and carbon dating from a Haynes Cave sloth scapula was proven a match to the skeleton excavated by John Stuart of Greenbrier County.