In South America, archaeologists have discovered hundreds of giant tunnels that are not man-made. They discovered these structures were created by a species of giant ‘monsters’.

During the search for Mayan ruins in South America in the 1930s, archaeologists suddenly discovered hundreds of giant tunnels. These tunnels have different sizes, Among these, some tunnels are about 2m high, 4m wide.

Brazil and Argentina are two locations where many mysterious tunnels have been discovered. On the walls, experts discovered many traces of giant claws.

Based on the claw marks inside the tunnel, experts determined that these structures were neither man-made nor naturally formed.

Instead, experts say the giant tunnels in South America are the “product” of a species of “monster”. They speculated that the “monster” could be a giant ground sloth that is now extinct.

Heinrich Frank, Professor from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil calls them “palaeontological tunnels”. He and his colleagues discovered these mysterious tunnels in the 2000s in the town of Novo Hamburgo.

After a period of searching, Professor Frank’s team discovered more than 1,500 tunnels in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Of these, the largest tunnel is nearly 610m long, 1.8m high, and 0.9 – 1.5m wide.

According to estimates by experts, about 4,000 tons of soil and rock were excavated out of the hillside to create such huge tunnels.

From here, researchers speculate that many generations of giant ground sloths have dug up the rock and created these tunnels. The ground sloths were about the same size as today’s elephants. They used to live in South America before disappearing about 10,000 years ago.

The giant ground sloth is one of the largest terrestrial mammals on Earth. Each adult individual has an average height of about 5.5m and can stand on two legs when needed. It has large claws, more than 40cm long and very hard.

Thanks to that set of claws, the ground sloth can easily dig up rocks and find food. According to the researchers, this species digs tunnels to make shelter, keeping the body warm when the Earth’s temperature drops significantly.