It was a beautiful day in the Jungle neighborhood 15,000 years ago. Massive gentle herbivores ‒ mastodons, giant armadillos, bison, palaeolamas and giant ground sloths ‒ were roaming throughout Florida, munching on delicious supersized plant life.
The Florida peninsula was twice its current size due to lower sea levels. Our Jungle neighborhood was fifty miles from the Gulf coast. The climate was cool and dry.
The giant creatures that lived here might have been thinking "there goes the neighborhood" when the first humans ‒ the Paleo-Americans ‒ arrived in Florida around 14,500 years ago.
Over the course of the next 4000 years, the human population adapted and prospered while many of the largest animals became extinct, victims of climate change and predatory humans.
Where did they come from?
From Asia: Mastodons and Bison (as well as humans)
In eras when the sea level is low, Asia and North America are connected by the Bering Land Bridge. Asian mastodons crossed the land bridge about 16.5 million years ago. Bison crossed into North America 195,000 to 135,000 years ago. Humans (Paleo-Americans) migrated about 16,000 years ago.
Before the Bering Land Bridge was passable, human migration from Asia may have come from another source: boats sailing near the Bering Strait and traveling along the coastline of North and South America.
From South America: Giant Armadillos and Ground Sloths
For millions of years, North and South America were separated by water. Distinct flora and fauna evolved on each continent.
Over time, tectonic movement, volcanic eruptions and sediment deposits created the Panama isthmus connecting North and South America. About three million years ago, critters never before seen in North America including opossums, porcupines, sloths and armadillos wandered north.
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National Park Service illustration of the megafauna that lived alongside humans in North America. [Public domain]
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| Lego figure and mastodon living in harmony. |
Mastodon
Origin: Africa Height: 9.5 feet Weight: 18000 lbs. (= about 100 humans)Extinction: 10000 years ago
Ten years ago artifacts were discovered in a sinkhole 30 miles south of Tallahassee. They provide evidence that the earliest known humans in Florida were here 14,500 years ago. Among the artifacts were stone tools used to extract tusks from mastodons.
Mastodons were related to elephants and woolly mammoths. They inhabited much of North America from Alaska to Florida.
Giant Armadillo
Origin: South America Length: 5 feet Weight: 4000 lbs.
Extinction: 11000 years ago
Giant Armadillos were hunted by the Paleo-Americans. Also known as glyptodonts, these herbivores migrated from South America. It probably took them a while to get here.
Ancient Llama (Palaeolama)
Origin: Debated (North or South America) Length: 7 feet Weight: 660 lbs.
Extinction: 10,000 years ago
Giant Ground Sloth
Origin: South America Length: 20 feet Weight: 8800 lbs.
Extinction: 12,000 years ago
Like the giant armadillo, the 20 foot long giant ground sloth was native to South America and came to Florida when the two continents merged.
Bison Antiquus
Origin: Asia Height: 7.3 feet Length: 15 feet Weight: 3500 lbs.
Extinction: Antiquus became extinct 10,000 years ago, but other species of bison live today.
Bison antiquus, an extinct species of bison, was an ancestor to the bison that currently roam in North America. Millions of bison ranged through most of North America and their bones have been found here in Florida. Until their near extinction, they were the dominant mammal herbivore in North America.
Other Fossils in Florida
Visitors to the Florida Museum of Natural History in Tallahassee can view the fossils of other animals that once lived in Florida including megalodon sharks, saber-toothed cats and the terror bird. There is no fossil record of dinosaurs in Florida, since the entire peninsula was underwater during their time on earth.
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The terror bird originated in South America.
It was flightless and preyed on small mammals.
Approximately 6 feet tall and 440 lbs. |
Epilogue
In Mr. Mastodon's neighborhood, things were beginning to heat up (literally) and new predators were appearing. The nomadic Paleo-Americans were relatively small in stature but they were able to do something no other animal could ‒ build weapons from wood and stone. The beautiful neighborhood would never be the same.
Warning: The above image shows Paleo-Americans killing a mastodon. Some, like myself, will find the violence disturbing. Click on the image if you choose to view a larger version.
