Ice Age Southern FOSSIL

discoveries vol. 1

Giants of the
F R toms, ro
ck

South S

Ice Age
iver bot and
ie s , sin kholes,
ILLED WITH COLOR quarr th
T e x a s to Sou ABER-TOOTHED CATS,
om
photos and illustrations, Ice Age caves fr sure ch
ests dire wolves, mammoths, mastodons,
r e t r e a
aa
Giants of the South describes Carolin

Giants
sts
fo s s i ls . Scienti and giant sloths are just a few of
ge
some of the most important fossil of Ice A ctors the large animals that lived
discoveries from South Carolina am at eur colle
and bones a
nd during the Ice Ages, which began
c o v e r e d
to Texas. Readers learn how have un such 1.8 million years ago. Ten thousand
e x t in c t giants
paleontologists use fossil clues to f
teeth o oths, years ago, when a warming trend
s , mamm

of the
develop theories about prehistoric o d o n
as mast d brought the last Ice Age to an end,
animals and their habitats. o u n d sloths, an
giant gr e these extraordinary animals became
o t h e d cats. T h
saber-t o extinct. Fossils are the only clues

South
ant
JUDY CUTCHINS and GINNY r o v id e import
fossils p tists
to their lives and habitats.
JOHNSTON have co-authored nine h a t h e lp scien The southern United States is one
clues t y of
award-winning natural science books o g e t h er a stor of the best places in the world to
piece t ore
for young readers. They were honored li f e w a s like m find Ice Age fossils. Fossilized teeth
what o.
as Georgia Authors of the Year in
10 ,0 0 0 years ag and bones are found in a variety
than
Juvenile Literature in 1991. Both of locations. Some are found by

Cutchins
hold elementary education specialist divers searching river bottoms
degrees. Ms. Johnston is the or water-filled caves. Many are
STAR
BLACK

coordinator of curriculum and discovered accidentally by

ilized
the foss

and
e
HULKE/

instruction for the Fernbank Science a rais

f Florid uddy people digging to make way
n iversity o m the m

Johnston
U o
FLIP SC

Center in Atlanta, Georgia, where o m the m oth fr

fr n mam
, divers olumbia
for new roads or working in rock
one by bone ou s C
Ms. Cutchins is an instructor and B norm
of an e River. quarries. Wherever fossils are
skeleton rida’s Aucilla
writer in the biology department. of Flo
bottom found, scientists from museums
I SB N 1 - 5 6 1 64 - 1 9 5 - 2 and universities study them
5 1 4 95
to learn more about what
Pineapple Press, Inc. Ice Age life was like.
Sarasota, Florida
9 78 1 5 6 1 64 1 9 5 6

Pineapple Press, Inc. • Sarasota, Florida Judy Cutchins and Ginny Johnston
 Southern FOSSIL
discoveries vol. 1

Ice Age
Giants of the
South

Judy Cutchins and Ginny Johnston

Pineapple Press, Inc. • Sarasota, Florida

 Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the following individuals for their expertise in
developing our book: Richard Hulbert, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Geology
and Museum Curator, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia; S.
David Webb, Ph.D., Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, Florida Museum of
Natural History, Gainesville, Florida; C. Andrew Hemmings, graduate
research assistant, University of Florida; Patty Crews, Geologist,
Jacksonville, Florida; and Ed Hooks, Ph.D., Paleontologist and Collections
Manager, Alabama Museum of Natural History, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
We also gratefully acknowledge a number of individuals for their assistance
in research and in photograph acquisition: Erika H. Simons, Florida Museum
of Natural History, Gainesville, Florida; Cynthia Ryals, Daytona Museum of
Arts and Sciences, Daytona, Florida; Fred Grady, National Museum of
Natural History, Washington, D.C.; Eric Taylor, Florida Paleontological
Society, Lake City, Florida; Lucky Lowe, Brunswick, Georgia; Dr. Cliff
Jeremiah, Jacksonville, Florida; Lawrence A. Wilson, Ph.D., Fernbank
Science Center, Atlanta, Georgia; and Geb Bennett, Dallas Museum of
Natural History, Dallas, Texas.

Copyright © 2000 by Judy Cutchins and Ginny Johnston

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.

Inquiries should be addressed to:

Pineapple Press, Inc.

P.O. Box 3899
Sarasota, Florida 34230
www.pineapplepress.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cutchins, Judy.
Ice age giants of the South / Judy Cutchins and Ginny Johnston.
p. cm. — (Southern fossil discoveries)
Includes index.
Summary: Chronicles recent archaeological discoveries of fossils in the Southern States.
ISBN 1-56164-195-2
1. Prehistoric animals—Juvenile literature. 2. Vertebrates, Fossil—Juvenile literature.
3. Archaeology—Southern States—Juvenile literature. [1. Prehistoric animals. 2. Fossils. 3. Paleontology.]
I. Johnston, Ginny. II. Title. III. Series.

QE842.C88 2000
566—dc21 99-087670

First Edition
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Design by Carol Tornatore

Printed in China
 Contents
1. Fossils of Giant Mammals 4

2. Great Glaciers 8

3. Life along a Pleistocene River 12

4. Land Bridges Between Continents 20

5. Caves and Sinkholes 22

6. Discoveries in Florida Sinkholes 25

7. Miles and Miles of Grasslands 32

8. Stories Told by Teeth 38

9. What Happened to the Giants of the Ice Age? 44

Glossary 46

Scientific Names 47

Index 48
o ne

Fossils
of Giant
Mammals
D uring the long cool periods that
gave the Ice Age its name, the earth was
not frozen solid. Worldwide, average
ig?
W hy So B of fossil bones prove
e sizes were
T he hug o r ic a nimals
is t
temperatures dropped only a few degrees, ny preh rge
but it was enough to add ice to the glaciers that ma t is t s b elieve la
en
ome sci ler,
over time. For thousands of years, the giants. S p t a t io n to coo
da
e is an a gest tha
t
glaciers grew, but they never covered the body siz r s s u g
the
earth. In regions south of these tremendous mates. O ger
drier cli b e c ome lar
ice sheets, there was a variety of habitats l ly
gradua
for plants and animals. Amazingly, some animals ful.
fo o d is plenti
habitats were in tropical climates. The when
South, from Texas to South Carolina, was a
very warm region throughout the Ice Age.
Scientists know saber-toothed cats,
mammoths, mastodons, and many more
Ice Age animals lived in the South because
their fossils have been found. When
animals die, their softer parts (skin, flesh,
muscles, organs) decay rapidly. Harder
teeth and bones take longer to decay,
and there is a better chance that they
may become fossilized.

4
The largest mastodon ever discovered in North America was found in northern Florida’s Aucilla River in 1968.
Nicknamed “Priscilla,” the skeleton is 11 feet tall. (Don Burk, Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville, FL)

5
 A researcher from the University of
Florida uncovers a leg bone of
an extinct giant ground sloth.
(Florida Museum of Natural History,
Gainesville, FL)

Divers find large fossils like this

mastodon vertebra (backbone)
on the bottom of southern rivers.
(Gene Middlebrooks)

Fossil bones and teeth are not the

only clues to the past. Preserved dung
(waste material), stomach contents, wood,
pollen, and seeds have also been found.
Paleontologists use these clues to determine
which plants and animals lived in the
South during the Ice Age and what their
habitats were like.

6
 Southern Fossil Discoveries
Volume 1: Ice Age Giants
of the South
by
Judy Cutchins and Ginny Johnston

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