DENVER (AP) — A trove of ancient bones from gigantic animals discovered in the Colorado mountains is providing scientists with a fascinating look at what happened about 120,000 years ago when the Earth got as warm as it is today. Evidence left behind by mastodons, mammoths, giant sloths and huge bison — along with insects, plants, pollen and other animals — offers a glimpse at how ancient animal adapted to climate change. The warmer weather allowed forests to reach about 2,500 feet farther up the mountainside than today's tree line, which is about 11,500 feet above sea level at the Snowmass site. "The site is spectacular because it has a single continuous pile of sediment from the most recent interglacial period," about 120,000 years ago, when conditions were similar to the present, said Ian Miller, chairman of the Earth Sciences Department at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Researchers also found about 50 other species, including mammoths, giant sloths about the size of today's grizzly bears, and bison that were half again as large as the modern-day versions.
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By DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press, San Antonio Express-News: World
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 12:51pm
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