Giant beasts
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In this photo taken May 2, 2012, Bruce MacFadden, vertebrate paleontology curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the University of Florida campus, discusses late Pleistocene mega fauna with Barbara Purdy, UF anthropology professor emeritus and Florida Museum archaeology curator emeritus, who is holding the toe bone of an extinct horse species uncovered at the Vero Beach archaeological site. The researchers co-authored a study published online May 3, 2012, in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology using rare earth element analysis to show modern humans in North America co-existed with large extinct mammals about 13,000 years ago. An extinct horse femur, from left, giant sloth anklebone and sloth claw are displayed on the table in the Florida Museum collections.
View larger image. To request a print-quality image, email newsdesk@ufl.edu.
Return to: New UF study shows early North Americans lived with extinct giant beasts