The intersection of human and megafauna trackways is particularly significant from a behavioral standpoint.

At several documented locations within the White Sands site, human and ground sloth tracks appear on the same surface, in some cases with human tracks falling within the impressions left by the large animal’s feet.

The interpretation of these intersections has been cautious: it could indicate that people were following or tracking the sloth, using its pre-pressed footsteps as convenient stepping places in soft mud.

It could indicate that both species were using the same path at different times, so that the intersection of their tracks reflects independent use of the same route rather than direct interaction.

Researchers have described one sequence — in which human tracks appear to circle the trackway of a large ground sloth, then converge on a location where the sloth’s track shows irregular pressure distribution consistent with the animal turning or stumbling — as potentially consistent with a hunting encounter.

This interpretation has been stated carefully and with appropriate uncertainty, and it has not been presented as a definitive conclusion.