We all enjoy the thrill of seeing large wild animals such as a deer or bear, but imagine the adrenaline buzz if you could have seen some of the extinct animals that fossil records indicate once roamed our area not so long ago.

Fifteen thousand years ago giants roamed the North American continent. These exceptionally large animals as a group are called megafauna, and here is a sampling of some species that may have stood where you stand now. There were camels called Camelops that were similar modern camels only larger and roamed in large herds. There was a long-legged Llama found across North America. A species of bison was here that was like our modern buffalo, only with a horn spread of 10 feet. The Wooly Mammoth was 9-12 feet tall and weighed 7-8 tons (present day elephants weigh in at 6). The largest known North American flying bird was a carrion feeder that had a wingspan of 16 feet and a huge, powerful bill. Our present-day carrion feeder, the turkey vulture, has a wingspan of 5 feet.

Humans hunted many of the fore-mentioned animals for meat, and there were animals that could have hunted humans for meat. The forerunner was the Saber-toothed tiger, a lion-sized predator with huge fangs. The most recent tiger remains were found in Tennessee and dated back to around 7400 B.C. Another predator was the massive Dire Wolf, much larger than modern wolves and had large, powerful teeth. The Short-faced Bear was 30% larger than the present day grizzly, and was the most powerful predatory mammal on the continent.

All these large beasts died out around 7-12 thousand years ago, and scientists are still arm-wrestling over why. One theory is climate change. North America has had a series of glacier events that covered much of the land with cold, steady temperatures (Ice Ages). The last glacier extended down as far as the Ohio River and receded north around 10,000 years ago. Big climate change impacted the vegetation cover that may have been too extreme for big vegetarians with big appetites to adapt to. And when the plant eaters die the meat eaters follow. Another theory is that humans arrived around 12,000 years ago and hunted the plant eaters to extinction. Both theories are debatable, and a combination of the two more likely. We modern humans can also impact wildlife habitat negatively and need to be better stewards of the land and the wildlife that live on it. For more information on wildlife management, contact your local wildlife, forestry, or county extension service.

By Steve Roark
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Volunteer