The early peoples of South America may have hunted a giant ground sloth, Mylodon darwinii, that became extinct 10,000 years ago. Its skin and dung, displayed here, were a gift from President Theodore Roosevelt.

This hall also displays numerous ethnographic specimens, including a Paresi bamboo flute in the Music case and a Nambikuara palm nut bead necklace in the Adornment case, both from Roosevelt's 1913-1914 expedition to South America. The arduous trip nearly cost Roosevelt his life.