The Grand Rapids Public Museum showcased a portion of bones from a young mastodon that lived in the forests of Michigan approximately 13,000 years ago. The discovery was made randomly last year, and the museum officials displayed some of the preserved remains.
Most of the mastodon’s skeleton is currently undergoing the drying process, while its tusks were shorter and less curved compared to the woolly mammoth’s. Despite their similarities, mastodons generally have stockier builds than woolly mammoths and are shorter as well.
The Michigan skeleton was discovered by Kent County drain commission workers digging about 30 miles north of Grand Rapids. Museum CEO Dale Robertson called the discovery “amazing.”
“It’s probably an understatement,” he said during a news conference Thursday before officials toured the new exhibit.
It’s not unusual to find mastodon bones, especially in the Midwest. But what’s special about this discovery is that as much as 80% of the mastodon’s bones are intact, “which is really, really impressive,” said Cory Redman, the museum’s science curator.
Redman explained that anything over 20% intact bones is cause for excitement, so the fact that 75 to 80% of the mastodon’s bones were found is “absolutely fantastic.”
However, the discovery did not yield any tusks, and only a partial skull was found, which is now on display under glass alongside a large photo of the excavation site. The skeleton was found on the private property of the Clapp family in August of last year, who generously donated it to the museum.
The Clapp Family Mastodon bones have been selected for public display as part of the museum’s new exhibition, “Ice Age: Michigan’s Frozen Secrets,” opening on Saturday. The exhibit showcases a variety of creatures from the Pleistocene period, and the museum has acquired 63 new fossils and casts, allowing visitors to touch real fossilized bones and teeth. However, the Clapp Family Mastodon is definitely the centerpiece of the exhibit.
According to Redman, the juvenile mastodon was likely between 10 and 20 years old when it died, which radio-carbon dating places at approximately 13,210 years ago.
Redman explained that the Clapp Family Mastodon is a particularly exciting find because it is a juvenile specimen, whereas most mastodons found are adults. Additionally, the degree of completeness of the skeleton is remarkable and adds to its uniqueness.