Until the end of the last ice age, many Giants called North America home. It has long puzzled scientists why these animals and other megafauna (creatures heavier than 100 lbs. / 45 kilograms) went extinct about 10,000 years ago.
Rapid warming periods called interstadials and, to a lesser degree, ice-age people who hunted animals are responsible for the disappearance of the continent's megafauna, according to studies.
Both research and the debate surrounding the reasons for the extinction of these animals will undeniably continue. In the meantime, researchers continue to find fossils of these massive creatures.
Here's a look at 13 such extinct giant animals from the last North American ice age, and what scientists know about their lives.
1. North American Horses
2. Glyptodon
3. American lion
4. Smilodon
6. Mastodons
7. Mammoths
8. Giant Short-faced bear
9. Dire wolf
10. American cheetah
11. Ground sloths
12. Giant beavers
13. North American Camels
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Music: Reception, William Rosati (YouTube Audio Library)
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