Bone collection to Veraguas Museum
January 25, 2005
Pearson gave in custody a collection of 18 fossils, to the Veraguas Regional Museum
Georges Pearson, STRI's visiting scientist and former fellow from the University of Kansas, gave in custody a collection of 18 fossils, to the Veraguas Regional Museum, this past week. The fossils belong to six giant ground sloths (Eremotherium sp.) and four Gomphothere mastodon (Cuvieronius tropicus) found in La Trinidaita dated at 45,000 14CBP, and eight giant ground sloths from Llano Hato, dated at 47,000 14C BP. Both sites are located in the Azuero peninsula. The excavations were conducted by Pearson in 2001. The giant ground sloths were plant-eating creatures that rivaled elephants in size. They stood 6 m (20 ft) tall and weighed several tons. Ground sloths originated in South America and spread northward by drifting on trees and debris to the West Indies and by migrating over the Central American land bridge to North America. The Gomphothere mastodon is also a giant mammal of the Ice Age, a sort of elephant.
According to local newspaper La Prensa (Jan 20), reporting from Santiago de Veraguas, Pearson revealed that he also found a fossilized molar tooth of a mastodon in the coast, near Las Perlas island. “During the Ice Age, the sea level in the Isthmus was 120 meters lower than today. This allowed more space and travel routes to all living species. Pearson's conclusion will be published in this month's issue of the Caribbean Journal of Science.
The photo shows the Museum's director Dicardides Rodriguez (left) and Pearson, preparing a list of the collection. To see photographs of the excavations please visit:
http://people.ku.edu/~ftgap/pearson/PEARSON.htm
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