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CP274498481 — This undated photo provided by the National Park Service shows a human print inside a large sloth track at the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. Researchers studying a trail of fossilized footprints on the New Mexico salt flat have determined the tracks tell the story of a group of Ice Age hunters stalking a giant sloth. (National Park Service via AP)

Scientists say fossilized footprints tell tale of sloth hunt

May 05 2018 02:17 AM

WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT, N.M. – Researchers studying fossilized footprints on a New Mexico salt flat say a trail of tracks tells the story of Ice Age hunters stalking a huge sloth.

Park naturalist David Bustos says the tracks found at White Sands National Monument show someone deliberately followed a now-extinct giant ground sloth.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports the team studying the prints detailed their findings in the latest edition of the journal Science Advances.

They say the sloth was 7 to 8 feet (2 metres) tall and had long, strong arms and razor-like claws.

It would have had a distinct advantage in close-quarter encounters. However, scientists say more human tracks were found a safe distance away, telling them the hunt was a community action.

The researchers estimate the footprints are at least 11,700 years old.