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ICE AGE NORTH AMERICAN GIANT
ARMADILLO MOLAR TOOTH
Santa Fe River - Florida,
U.S.A.
LATE
PLIOCENE
PERIOD: 3.2 - 1.8 million years ago
Fine grade fossil teeth from
North American Prehistoric Giant Armadillos are not common fossil finds
and make an interesting as well as educational specimen for Ice Age
mammal fossil displays. This is a molar tooth from the North
American Giant Armadillo Holmesina floridanus. This
creature was a bizarre beast that went extinct at the during the final
Ice Age in the United States.
Molar tooth has a nice
natural dark brown color and shows its characteristic lobed
cross-section design on the chewing surface. Tooth is
INTACT WITH NO REPAIR and NO RESTORATION. A
fine quality display specimen from a prehistoric creature most people have no knowledge of!
In North America,
there are two species of Holmesina that are known with both based on
Florida finds. The smaller animal is named, H. floridanus and
lived during the late Pliocene on into the early Pleistocene.
Floridanus' larger cousin at more than twice its size, H. septentrionalis,
ranged from the middle to late Pleistocene.
At over 600 pounds and
exceeding 6 feet in length, the Giant Armadillo must have been one heavy
land tank of an animal. It is believed these creatures spread to
Florida during the Pleistocene from their original domain in South
America. It is still a mystery as to what they ate. Modern
armadillos eat insects but to sustain 600 pounds of body mass would have
required some other type of food source. About 9800 years
ago, a dramatic shift in the climate caused their extinction in Florida.
UNCOMMON
FINE GRADE MOLAR TOOTH FROM A MOSTLY UNKNOWN ICE AGE BEAST OF NORTH
AMERICA
1" long
$165 LM5-020 INCLUDES
DISPLAY BOX Actual
Item - One Only
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