KENT CITY, Mich. — A young mastodon’s bones were recently discovered in Kent City. While this finding may seem surprising to many, it’s not unusual to some people in Michigan.
READ MORE: Mastodon bones unearthed in Kent City
The University of Michigan gets a call about once a year about a mastodon.
Researchers there say they find more mastodons than woolly mammoths in Michigan.
They say our geography is a reason why they find mastodons so well preserved.
“We were finding most of the animal there. I think about the only thing we didn’t find was the skull,” said Scott Beld, paleontology research assistant with the University of Michigan. “We did find three foot bones that were articulated, hadn’t come apart from where they were and were preserved in the sediments that way.”
He says Michigan’s rich with water, which provides a good resource for preserving the bones.
“The reason we find them in Michigan is that they get either ... died near water holes or small lakes, or that people might have killed them and stored meat in the ponds, and what happens is that the bones will sink to the bottom,” Beld added.
Courtney Clapp and her family live on the property where the bones were found, allowing them to join the few in Michigan who’ve gotten to help dig up these windows into our past.
“It’s kind of unbelievable. Just knowing that it was here this whole time,” Clapp explained. “The guys and ladies here doing everything are doing a really great job at preserving everything.”
A young boy uncovered a mastodon tooth in a river in Rochester Hills two years ago and, in 2015, someone found a large mammoth skull in Chelsea.
Like these two discoveries, the newest discovery will head to U of M to undergo further examination.
“It would have been nice to find the tusks because then we can often get some more detailed work on the life of the animal,” Beld told FOX 17.
A recent article published in partnership with U of M researchers shows the life of one mastodon after studying its tusks.
The tusks act like tree rings, with the oldest layer on the outside.
The research shows northeast Indiana was a mating area and the adult mastodon spent a significant time in Michigan.
“They move around, particularly the males because, like modern elephants, they’re matriarchal herds. So, you know, the females will be in a herd and they probably don’t range as far as the males will. And when they get about 13, wheeling their teams, they’re kicked out of the matriarch or herd, so then they’ll roam farther than female mastodons,” Beld explained.
Our Kent City mastodon has one migration left: after its time at U of M, the animal will head to the Grand Rapids Public Museum.
U of M says the bones must go through a process before being put on display.
Researchers will dry them slowly, which can take several months to a year.
