The Giant Ice Age Sloth, Megalonyx jeffersoni, the famed "Giant Claw" discovered by Thomas Jefferson, stood almost ten feet tall and weighed 2-3 tons, as much as a small elephant. It grazed Iowa's woodlands during a geologic period called the Pleistocene when huge glaciers of ice covered much of Iowa.

Sloths were slow moving vegetarians who used their claws for food gathering, defense and possibly to climb trees. They became extinct about 9,500 years ago, along with mammoths, mastodons, giant beavers, camels and many other marvelous animals living in Iowa. Learn about the on-going sloth excavation. More sloth photos.