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Florida Geographer

College

Science

Department

Geosciences

Document Type

Article

Abstract

I first heard about the Clam Bayou Giant Ground Sloth from a local fisherman in Gulfport, FL. It was a warm spring day, and I had taken my infant son for a stroll through Clam Bayou Nature Park, a quiet spot on the eastern fringe of our little Gulf Coast town. While we paused to watch this seasoned angler cleaning his catch, he spun out three or four tales, every now and then tossing a spare fishy bit to the herons assembled eagerly around the DO NOT FEED WILDLIFE sign. Each yarn was gnarlier than the last, but the story of the ground sloth stuck with me: a colossal prehistoric relic shuffling around deep in the mangroves! So extraordinary, he claimed, that a team of UF scientists had been out to study it just a few years back. It’s ridiculous, I know. But venture deep enough into Clam Bayou, and you can’t help feeling that it just might be true.

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