SGER: Salvage Excavation of the Tarkio Valley Ground Sloth, Page County, Iowa

这笔用于探索性研究的小额赠款将允许恢复更新世巨型地懒的一个极其完好的标本--巨型杰弗森巨懒。这个标本之所以值得注意，是因为它位于地质研究得很好的德福里斯特地层中，可以很好地控制年龄，以及尾椎的存在，几乎所有其他标本都没有尾椎。树懒的发现将揭示在更新世/全新世大型动物灭绝事件或附近的树懒的古生态。在其他五个最完整的巨型恐龙化石中，只有美洲瀑布树懒是完整的，在这种情况下，尾部遗骸是不存在的；其他两个是一个多世纪前挖掘出来的，三分之一是从挖掘机的废墟中发现的严重损坏的。这个样本被保存在西塔尔基奥溪的河岸内，并受到2004年坍塌的一座小型围堰的保护。这些遗骸有被该地区春季洪水侵蚀的危险。这个项目广泛使用了学生和公民志愿者--无论是在样本采集阶段还是在实验室准备阶段。这些遗骸将成为爱荷华大学自然历史博物馆新设计的展览的一部分。当地媒体一直密切关注这次挖掘，一个网站记录了该项目的各个方面：挖掘的不同阶段、收集的标本、涉及的人、科学解释、媒体报道和展览计划。过去，夺回这一席位的努力一直是爱荷华州博览会的一部分，甚至在全国电视转播的爱荷华州篮球中场秀期间也是如此。

This small grant for exploratory research will allow for the recovery of a remarkably intact specimen of Pleistocene giant ground sloth, Megalonyx jeffersoni. This sample is notable because of its in situ location in the geologically well-studied DeForest formation, allowing for good age control, as well as the presence of caudal vertebrae, missing in almost every other specimen. The recovery of the sloth will shed light on the paleoecology of the sloth at or near the Pleistocene/Holocene megafaunal extinction event. Of the five other most complete Megalonyx fossils, only the American Falls sloth is as complete, and in that case the caudal remains are absent; two of the others were excavated over a century ago, and a third was recovered badly damaged from backhoe spoil. This sample is contained within the banks of the West Tarkio Creek, and was protected by a small coffer dam that collapsed in 2004. The remains are in danger of being lost to erosion from spring flooding in the area.Student and citizen volunteers are used extensively by this project -- both in the sample collection and in the lab preparation phases. The remains will form part of a newly designed display at the Museum of Natural history at the University of Iowa. The dig has been followed closely by the local media, and a website documents various aspects of the project: the different phases of the dig, the collected specimens, the people involved, the scientific interpretation, media coverage, and plans for the exhibit. In the past, the effort to recover the slot has been part of the Iowa State Fair, and even during nationally televised Iowa basketball half-time shows.