Colorado in the Ice Age - Fossils Discovered

Jefferson ground sloth skeleton. (Wikipedia)

Colorado (left) in the United States, is a place of beautiful mountains and waterways. It seems to be so pristine these days with familiar animals and plants. But what was it like thousands of years ago in the Ice Age? Little by little, palaeontologists are piecing together the environment of Colorado when the land was largely covered by ice.

In a recent excavation of an Ice Age ecosystem at Snowmass Village, researchers have found the upper arm of a Jefferson's ground sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonii). Project scientist Greg McDonald said it was the first time such a sloth was found since other remains found in the past were of Harlan's ground sloth. The find is another piece in a puzzle which reveals what life was like in the region when, apart from ground sloths, the land was home to the Ice Age bison, Columbian mammoth, Ice Age deer, and American mastodon.

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