• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

A Beautifully Preserved Mastodon Skeleton Has Been Unearthed In Iowa

August 20, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

Archaeologists have been furiously digging to unearth a stunning mastodon skeleton in Iowa. It’s the first time that well-preserved remains of the prehistoric beast have been scientifically excavated in the state – and what a beauty it is.

Advertisement

Researchers at the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist were first contacted in the fall of 2022 after a local resident of Wayne County stumbled across a strange, long bone poking out of the creek bed. 

A preliminary probe revealed that the bone was the femur of an extinct mastodon. They also discovered part of a tusk, which they believed to be still attached to the skull, sparking interest in a full scientific investigation. After securing the necessary funds, archaeologists returned to the site in August 2024 and commenced a 12-day dig, excavating the skull and several more bones. 

Archeology excavation of a mastodon skull in a creek, Iowa.

Look at the size of this thing!

Image credit: Kirk Murray/University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist

Their radiocarbon dating of the remains suggests the mastodon lived around 13,600 years ago, roaming North America towards the end of the last Ice Age when the animals fell into extinction.

Mastodons were large mammals similar to both modern-day elephants and mammoths that stomped around North America from around 3.5 million years ago until 10,500 years ago. One of the key differences between mastodons and mammoths was their teeth: mastodon teeth had unusual cusps specially adapted for eating woody plants, while mammoths possessed teeth that were flatter and ridged, perfect for munching grasses.



Advertisement

The discovery in Iowa is especially exciting as it coincides with the era in which humans had settled in the region. This overlap is significant because it’s well-documented that mastodons were hunted and butchered by these early inhabitants of North America. 

The archaeologists have already discovered several human-made artifacts at the site, including stone tools. While they are a few thousand years younger than the mastodon skull, it hints that some fascinating discoveries could be revealed by further research.

“We’re really hoping to find evidence of human interaction with this creature — perhaps the projectile points and knives that were used to kill the animal and do the initial butchering. There’s also potential evidence on the bones themselves — there could be identifiable cut marks,” John Doershuk of the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist (OSA) said in a statement.

Once it’s been fully studied and preserved, OSA is planning on putting the bones on display at the Prairie Trails Museum in Corydon for the public to peruse.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. UNICEF calls for schools to reopen in pandemic-hit nations
  2. Murderous AI Robots’ Lab Rampage Conspiracy Theory Has Been Dredged Up Again
  3. Panda Skeleton Found Inside 2,000-Year-Old Tomb Of Chinese Emperor
  4. Uranus Gets First New Moon In 20 Years While Neptune Gets Two More

Source Link: A Beautifully Preserved Mastodon Skeleton Has Been Unearthed In Iowa

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Martian Mudstone Has Features That Might Be Biosignatures, New Brain Implant Can Decode Your Internal Monologue, And Much More This Week
  • Crocodiles Weren’t All Blood-Thirsty Killers, Some Evolved To Be Plant-Eating Vegetarians
  • Stratospheric Warming Event May Be Unfolding In The Southern Polar Vortex, Shaking Up Global Weather Systems
  • 15 Years Ago, Bees In Brooklyn Appeared Red After Snacking Where They Shouldn’t
  • Carnian Pluvial Event: It Rained For 2 Million Years — And It Changed Planet Earth Forever
  • There’s Volcanic Unrest At The Campi Flegrei Caldera – Here’s What We Know
  • The “Rumpelstiltskin Effect”: When Just Getting A Diagnosis Is Enough To Start The Healing
  • In 1962, A Boy Found A Radioactive Capsule And Brought It Inside His House — With Tragic Results
  • This Cute Creature Has One Of The Largest Genomes Of Any Mammal, With 114 Chromosomes
  • Little Air And Dramatic Evolutionary Changes Await Future Humans On Mars
  • “Black Hole Stars” Might Solve Unexplained JWST Discovery
  • Pretty In Purple: Why Do Some Otters Have Purple Teeth And Bones? It’s All Down To Their Spiky Diets
  • The World’s Largest Carnivoran Is A 3,600-Kilogram Giant That Weighs More Than Your Car
  • Devastating “Rogue Waves” Finally Have An Explanation
  • Meet The “Masked Seducer”, A Unique Bat With A Never-Before-Seen Courtship Display
  • Alaska’s Salmon River Is Turning Orange – And It’s A Stark Warning
  • Meet The Heaviest Jelly In The Seas, Weighing Over Twice As Much As A Grand Piano
  • For The First Time, We’ve Found Evidence Climate Change Is Attracting Invasive Species To Canadian Arctic
  • What Are Microfiber Cloths, And How Do They Clean So Well?
  • Stowaway Rat That Hopped On A Flight From Miami Was A “Wake-Up Call” For Global Health
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version