EAGER: AMS Dating, Rapid Prototyping and Student Intern for the Tarkio Valley Giant Ground sloth Locality

AMS Dating，Rapid Prototyping and Student Intern for the塔尔基奥山谷巨型地懒LocalityHolmes A. Semken，爱荷华大学摘要。在爱荷华州西南部的塔尔基奥山谷，一只相对完整的成年冰河时代巨型地懒（Megalonyx jacksonii）与两只幼树懒的发掘工作现已完成。最近发现了一个哈兰？在塔尔基奥地区下游的一个砾石坝上发现的地懒（Paramylodon harlani）掌骨为该项目增加了一个新的维度：有两种完全不同形式的地懒，它们的地层彼此接近。PI要求资金对这两种明显不同的地懒物种（和属）进行AMS C14测年，以核实它们相对于彼此的年龄。 确定这两种不同属的更新世地懒的年龄对于了解它们的古生物学和古生态学至关重要。 AMS C14日期是高风险吗？高回报活动，因为不确定其应用于长骨髓腔材料是否会成功;如果成功，新方法将是该方法的变革。 爱荷华州大学的Plesitocene研究计划是非凡的，从它的推广到外行公众，本科生和研究生的角度来看，并将继续作为这个渴望建议的一个组成部分。

AMS Dating, Rapid Prototyping and Student Intern for the Tarkio ValleyGiant Ground sloth LocalityHolmes A. Semken, University of IowaAbstract. Excavation of an extraordinary find, a relatively complete adult ice-age giant ground sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonii) associated with two juveniles from the Tarkio Valley in southwest Iowa, is now complete. The recent discovery of a Harlan?s ground sloth (Paramylodon harlani) metacarpal on a gravel bar immediately downstream from the Tarkio locality added a new dimension to the project: there are two entirely different forms of ground sloth in close stratigraphic proximity of one another. The PI requests funds to undertake an AMS C14 dating of these two distinctly different species (and genera) of ground sloth to verify their ages relative to one another. Determining the ages of these two different genera of Pleistocene ground sloths is crucial for understanding their paleobiology and paleoecology. The AMS C14 date is a high risk ? high reward activity in that it is uncertain that its application to long bone medullary cavity materials will be successful; if successful, the new methodology will be transformative for this method. The University of Iowa Plesitocene research program is extraordinary from the standpoint of its outreach to the lay public, undergraduate and graduate students and will continue as a component of this EAGER proposal.