Megalodon Fossil Expedition Tours in Florida

If you like to kayak, what could be more fun than kayaking down a peaceful, old Florida river in search of ancient megalodon shark teeth? How about going on an exciting fossil expedition in search of giant mastodons?

Mark Renz, an amateur paleontologist who just happened to stumble upon one of the greatest fossil finds of Florida's prehistoric animals, leads tours in south Florida for ancient shark teeth and more. His discovery of saber-tooth cats, dugong's, mastodons, massive armadillos, and giant ground sloth in Florida led scientists at Florida's Museum of Natural History to a much deeper knowledge of Florida's prehistoric animal population, and their decline.

On his website, Renz says that Florida did not have the big dinosaurs such as the T-Rex, but had an amazing variety of curious creatures that were ancestors to some of the modern animals and mammals found alive today. There were the peaceful giant dugongs, the cousin to the modern day manatee, still vegetarians, though they had a dolphin-type tail, giant tortoiseshell turtles, a ground forager in the form of a giant sloth, strange, tall birds that could run at about fifty miles per hour which Renz describes as similar to Big Bird, (think a deranged type of big bird), and giant armadillos, among the revered saber-tooth tigers, and mammoths, ironically minus the woolly hair. Florida was hot, even back then. Renz and scientists believe that the prehistoric animals of Florida may have been killed by a cold spell that damaged the food supply. The result are massive, fascinating fossils, that show the magical history of a time that nobody in their wildest imagination could envision. Giant shark teeth, massive bones, and amazing variety of fossilized treasures, are just waiting to be found in Florida's streams and lakes, aside from dry land.

The Travel Channel visited Renz and filmed a segment on his fossil finding expedition this past January. Renz is also an author, and an authority on guided expeditions down Peace River in Southwest Florida in search of mastodon teeth, the prehistoric giant shark. This is an ongoing expedition for anyone with an interest. The teeth can be quite valuable as well, but like Renz, people go out to search for the fossilized good finds not so much for monetary gain, but for the thrill of the hunt and in appreciation for these creatures and Florida's past. Fossil hunting is a uniquely fascinating and educational hobby, and there are collectors of all ages and genders that enjoy searching for Florida's prehistoric, fossilized creatures.

To find out more about the tour, check out the website http://www.fossilexpeditions.com/ .

Source: http://www.funandsun.com/1tocf/wildlife/armadillos.html