mastodons

11 Stories

Mastodon Jaw Found After Homeowner Spots Teeth

Researchers unearthed complete jaw, bone fragments from NY resident's backyard

(Newser) - A complete mastodon jaw was found in a backyard in New York's Orange County after a homeowner spotted a couple of teeth protruding from the ground, concealed by the fronds of a plant. The homeowner in Scotchtown, around 70 miles north of New York City, contacted experts after finding...

Mastodon Unearthed in Iowa Possibly Eaten by Humans
Mastodon Bones
Unearthed in Iowa
Aug 19, 2024 7:06 AM CDT

Mastodon Bones Unearthed in Iowa

Scientists hope to find 'identifiable cut marks' made by humans on the 13,600-year-old bones

(Newser) - The well-preserved skull of an extinct mastodon has been discovered in Iowa. Officials from the University of Iowa's Office of the State Archaeologist said a 12-day excavation yielded "several mastodon bones," largely from the skull of the massive animal, belonging to the same order as elephants and...

Museum Puts Mastodon Bones Found by Work Crew on Display

(Newser) - A selection of bones belonging to a juvenile mastodon that roamed the woods of Michigan 13,000 years ago is now on display at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, after workers unearthed it by chance last year. Excited museum officials showed off some of the long-extinct pachyderm's remains on...

Study 'Opens Door Into a Past That Has Basically Been Lost'

Oldest DNA tells us what life once occupied Greenland

(Newser) - Scientists discovered the oldest known DNA and used it to reveal what life was like 2 million years ago in the northern tip of Greenland. Today, it’s a barren Arctic desert, but back then it was a lush landscape of trees and vegetation with an array of animals, even...

3 Boys Make Ancient Find on Spring Break

They discovered mastodon jawbone on family land

(Newser) - Three boys have found a part of a mastodon jawbone while exploring family property in Mississippi. The Vicksburg Post reports that two brothers and a cousin made the discovery on plowed land near Bovina, a small community east of the Mississippi River. The three were on spring break from school...

Humans May Have Lived in California 130K Years Ago
Mastodon Bones Spark
Major Claim—and Major Doubt
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Apr 30, 2017 2:00 PM CDT

Mastodon Bones Spark Major Claim—and Major Doubt

Did humans live in California 130K years ago?

(Newser) - Exactly how long have humans been in the Americas? A wealth of evidence suggests they arrived as early as 20,000 years ago, while the earliest record of modern humans in the world dates back 200,000 years to Africa (and they probably didn't leave until around 50,000...

Florida Divers Bring Up Signs of People 14K Years Ago

'Bering Strait theory' takes another knock

(Newser) - What divers found in a Florida sinkhole may help overturn a long-held theory—that people first colonized the Americas thousands of years ago by crossing the Bering Strait, the Guardian reports. Scientists say that fossilized dung, mastodon bones, and a stone knife discovered at the site near Tallahassee suggest people...

Yale Grad Students Debunk 1951 Dinner-Party Legend

A hoax of mammoth proportions is revealed

(Newser) - The Explorers Club Annual Dinner in New York—now going on its 112th year —has long treated its guests to exotic food items, including in more recent years deep-fried tarantulas, goat eyeball martinis, and the barbecued sex organs of bulls, reports the Atlantic . But the most famous meal of...

Michigan Neighbors Unearth Mastodon Bones in Backyard

They dig up more than 40, will donate to museum

(Newser) - Eric Witzke's home is in Bellevue Township, Michigan, but he is clearly not the first one to roam his yard. While he and neighbor Daniel LaPoint were excavating a backyard pond, they happened upon more than 40 mastodon bones, reports ABC News . An expert from the University of Michigan...

Mammoths and Mastodons Stuck Close to Home

Study of ancient teeth reveal surprising clues about how and where they lived

(Newser) - Mr. Snuffleupagus and friends didn’t much like to leave home—at least not the ones that lived in what is now Ohio and Kentucky, a University of Cincinnati study reveals. Researchers had long believed mammoths and mastodons were nomadic, but their teeth tell a different story. Mammoths ate grasses...

Elephant Ancestor's Bones Alter Our Continent's History

Gomphotheres appear to have roamed North America as recently as 13,400 years ago

(Newser) - North America's prehistoric Clovis people were known hunters of large mammoths and mastodons. But another elephant ancestor, the smaller gomphothere, may also have fallen prey to the ambitious hunter-gatherers. An archaeological dig begun in 2007 in northwestern Mexico now carbon dates that site—which has given up Clovis spear...

11 Stories