Mastodon Vertebra KO-501
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Mammut americanum, the Mastodon, became extinct about 10,000 years ago. The individual from which this vertebra (T3) came died approximately 12,450 years ago. The specimen, found in a peat bog in Plymouth, Indiana, is estimated (on the basis of its 45-inch-long femur) to have stood about 9 to 9.5 feet at its shoulder and to have been 35 to 40 years old. In the same family as Mammoths, Mastodons differ in several ways from them. Mastodons were shorter but stockier, had a larger, flatter skull, and had much straighter tusks than the curved tusks of the Mammoth. 'Mammut,' the scientific name meaning 'earth burrower,' was given to this mammal in the mistaken belief that because its bones were found buried deep in the fields, it must have been an enormous burrowing animal. Its modern name, Mastodon, means 'nipple-toothed,' a reference to the conical cusps found on its teeth. See KO-158. We are grateful to the Babiarz Institute of Paleontological Studies for the opportunity to cast this individual (ID number BIOPSI-00512).

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