South Daytona in Volusia County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Giant Ground Sloth

Photographed By AGS Media, July 30, 2011

1. Giant Ground Sloth Marker

Inscription. On this site in 1975 was found the best preserved and most complete giant ground sloth ever found in North America.

The sloth weighed three to five tons, stood thirteen feet tall and was a vegetarian.

An estimated fifty species of animals were unearthed approximately twelve feet below the surface of the ground. The age of these findings is estimated to be 130,000 years old.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Animals • Paleontology. A significant historical year for this entry is 1975.

Location. 29° 9.137′ N, 81° 0.988′ W. Marker is in South Daytona, Florida, in Volusia County. Marker can be reached from South Nova Road south of Reed Canal Road, on the right when traveling north. The marker is located on the grounds of Reed Canal Park, a public park of the City of South Daytona. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 919 Reed Canal Road, Daytona Beach FL 32119, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Florida Hammock Trail (approx. 0.9 miles away); Bongoland (approx. 0.9 miles away); Historic Sugar Cane Machinery (approx. 0.9 miles away); Destruction of Dunlawton Plantation (approx. one mile away); Emathla (King Philip) (approx. one mile

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away); Spanish Mills and Bongoland (approx. one mile away); Living on the Edge (approx. one mile away); Dunlawton's Building Blocks (approx. one mile away).

More about this marker. The marker is situated along the lake on a rock near the park pavilions.

Regarding Giant Ground Sloth. The fossil skeleton of the giant ground sloth is on display a few miles north at the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Daytona Beach.

Also see . . . Ground Sloth - Wikipedia. (Submitted on August 4, 2011, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland.)

Additional keywords. Eremotherium laurilardi

Photographed By AGS Media, July 30, 2011

2. Giant Ground Sloth Marker

At the top right are the Reed Canal Park pavilions.

Photographed By AGS Media, July 30, 2011

3. Giant Ground Sloth Marker

Along the lake at Reed Canal Park

Turtles at Reed Canal Park image. Click for full size.

Photographed By AGS Media, July 30, 2011

4. Turtles at Reed Canal Park

Among the species now inhabiting the park are these turtles.

The lake at Reed Canal Park image. Click for full size.

Photographed By AGS Media, July 30, 2011

5. The lake at Reed Canal Park

The lake is popular for fishing and model sailboat running.

Giant Ground Sloth at Dunlawton Sugar Mill Botanical Gardens image. Click for full size.

Photographed By AGS Media, August 13, 2010

6. Giant Ground Sloth at Dunlawton Sugar Mill Botanical Gardens

The nearby gardens feature this rather ill-proportioned model of a giant ground sloth, one of the remnants of a 1950's era tourist attraction (see nearby "Bongoland" historical marker).

Credits. This page was last revised on July 22, 2018. It was originally submitted on August 2, 2011, by Glenn Sheffield of Tampa, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,253 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on August 2, 2011, by Glenn Sheffield of Tampa, Florida. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.