A man diving in the Wekiva river in North Central Florida spotted an eight foot mammoth tusk lodged in a swampy peat deposit. This discovery has led scientists to one of the largest dicoveries of fossils in Florida history.
Scientists study fossil remains in order to discover the early climate and plant life of a region.
Some of the animals found include the giant sloth, a species of arctic rodent, mastodon, bison and a short limbed South American llama. Many of the fossils found in the Wekiva River are thought to have been arctic animals, and yet Florida was not known to have had the cold dry winters that are often associated with these animals. The fossil site is the southernmost point where one species of arctic rodent, Microtus pennsylvanicus, has ever been found.