Mammoths are related to elephants belonging to the genus Mammut that inhabited North and Central America before disappearing about 10,000 to 11,000 years ago. Typical adults were between 8 and 10 feet (2.5-3 meters) tall at the shoulder and weighed about 8,000 to 12,000 pounds (3,600-5,400 kg). The largest specimen found was 10.7 feet (3.3 meters) tall and weighed 24,000 pounds (11,000 kilograms). They lived in herds, feeding mainly on leaves and twigs, like modern elephants. Although some evidence suggests that climate change may have contributed to their extinction, it is generally believed that human hunting by the Old Indians was a major factor in their extinction. About 13,200 years ago, a stray male mastodon died in a bloody mating battle with an opponent in present-day northeastern Indiana, nearly 100 miles (160 kilometers) from his homeland, according to the first study documenting his annual an individual animal from an extinct species. The 8-ton (7,200 kg) adult, known as Buesching mastodon, was killed when an opponent pierced the right side of his skull with a tusk tip, a deadly wound that was revealed to investigators when the animal’s remains were pulled from a peat. farm near Fort Wayne in 1998. Northeast Indiana was probably the preferred summer mating for this lonely walker, who has been trekking every year for the last three years of his life, going north of his home in the cold season, according to a post published today (June 13th). 2022) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study also shows that the Buesching bull may have spent time exploring central and southern Michigan, which seems appropriate for a creature whose full-size fiberglass skeleton is on display at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History in Ann Arbor. “The unique result of this study is that for the first time we were able to document the annual terrestrial migration of an extinct species,” said Joshua Miller, a paleontologist at the University of Cincinnati, the study’s first author. “Using new modeling techniques and a powerful geochemical toolbox, we were able to show that large male mastodens such as Buesching migrated each year to mating sites.” A mounted Buesching mastic skeleton based on molds made of individual bones made of fiberglass at a public exhibition at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History in Ann Arbor. The Buesching mastodon is an almost complete skeleton of an adult male recovered in 1998 from a peat farm near Fort Wayne, Indiana. A new study, led by Joshua Miller of the University of Cincinnati and Daniel Fisher of the University of Michigan, uses oxygen and strontium isotopes from the right mammary gland to reconstruct its life-changing prototype. Created by: Eric Bronson, Michigan Photography UM paleontologist and co-leader of the study Daniel Fisher participated in the Buesching mastodon excavation 24 years ago. He later used a band saw to cut a thin, longitudinal plate from the center of the animal’s banana-shaped 9.5-foot tusk, which is longer and more fully preserved than the left. This plate was used for new isotope and life history analyzes, which allowed scientists to reconstruct changing patterns of landscape use during two key periods: adolescence and the last years of adulthood. The Buesching mastoid died in a battle for access to mates at the age of 34, according to researchers. Paleontologist and co-lead author of the study Daniel Fisher of the University of Michigan participated in the Buesching mastodon excavation 24 years ago. He later used a band saw to cut a thin, longitudinal plate from the center of his right 9.5-foot-long banana-shaped tusk. This plate was used for new isotope and life history analyzes, which allowed scientists to reconstruct changing patterns of landscape use during two key periods: adolescence and the last years of adulthood. The Buesching mastoid died in a battle for access to mates at the age of 34, according to researchers. Credit: Photo courtesy of Daniel Fisher “You have a whole life ahead of you on this tusk,” said Fischer, who has studied mammoths and mammoths for more than 40 years and helped excavate dozens of relatives of extinct elephants. “The growth and development of the animal, as well as its history of land use change and behavior change – all this history is captured and recorded in the structure and composition of the tusk,” said Fisher, a professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences. , Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Curator at the UM Museum of Paleontology. The team ‘s analysis revealed that the original range of the Buesching mastodon was probably in central Indiana. Like modern elephants, the young male stayed close to home until he left the herd of female-led teenagers. As a lone adult, Buesching traveled farther and farther, often traveling nearly 20 miles a month, according to the researchers. Also, the use of its landscape varies according to the seasons, including a dramatic northward extension to a summer-only area that included parts of northeastern Indiana – the supposed mating sites. “Every time we got to the hot season, the Buesching mastodon went to the same place – bam, bam, bam – over and over again. “The clarity of this signal was unexpected and really exciting,” said Miller, who has used similar isotopic techniques to study caribbean migration to Alaska and Canada. The left half of the right tusk of the Buesching mastoid. The numbers on the side of the tusk (9-11) indicate where specific annual layers are exposed (counting from the tip of the tusk to the end of life at the base) on the surface of the tusk. Credit: Jeremy Marble, University of Michigan News Under the harsh Pleistocene climates, migration and other forms of seasonal landscape use were likely critical to the reproductive success of mammals and other large mammals. However, little is known about how geographic areas and their mobility fluctuated seasonally or changed with sexual maturity, according to the new study. But techniques for analyzing the proportions of different forms or isotopes of strontium and oxygen in ancient tusks are helping scientists unlock some of these secrets. Mammoths, mammoths, and modern elephants, which belong to a group of large, flexible mammals called proboscis, have elongated upper incisors that emerge from their skulls as tusks. In each year of the animal’s life, new layers of growth are deposited in those that already exist, placed in alternating light and dark zones. A mounted Buesching mastic skeleton based on molds made of individual bones made of fiberglass at a public exhibition at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History in Ann Arbor. The Buesching mastodon is an almost complete skeleton of an adult male recovered in 1998 from a peat farm near Fort Wayne, Indiana. A new study, led by Joshua Miller of the University of Cincinnati and Daniel Fisher of the University of Michigan, uses oxygen and strontium isotopes from the right mammary gland to reconstruct its life-changing prototype. Created by: Eric Bronson, Michigan Photography The annual growth layers in a tusk are somewhat similar to the annual rings of a tree, with the difference that each new tusk layer forms near the center, while new growth in the trees occurs in a layer of cells next to the bark. The growth layers on a tusk look like an inverted stack of ice cream cones, with the time of death being recorded at the base and the time of birth at the edge. Mammoths were herbivores that roamed trees and shrubs. As they grew older, chemicals in their food and drinking water were incorporated into their body tissues, including gracefully conical, ever-growing tusks. In a recently published study, strontium and oxygen isotopes in tusks allowed researchers to reconstruct Buesching’s travels as a teenager and as a reproductive adult. Thirty-six samples were collected from adolescence (during and after leaving the matriarchal herd) and 30 samples from the last years of the animal’s life. Close-up showing pieces of a mammoth tusk (not from the Buesching mastodon) held by University of Michigan paleontologist Daniel Fisher. In Fisher’s right hand is a square near the base of the tusk, showing layers representing the last six years of life. A cross-section of a mammoth tusk tip, in Fisher’s left hand, shows concentric annual tusks. Credit: Jeremy Marble, University of Michigan News A microscopic drill, operated under a microscope, was used to grind half a millimeter from the edge of individual growth layers, each of which covered a period of one to two months in the life of the animal. The powder produced during this milling process was collected and chemically analyzed. The proportions of strontium isotopes in the tusk provided geographical fingerprints that corresponded to specific locations on the maps that showed how strontium changes throughout the landscape. Oxygen isotope values, which show strong seasonal fluctuations, helped the researchers determine the time of year when a particular layer of tusks formed. Because both strontium and oxygen isotope samples were collected from the same narrow growth layers, the researchers were able to draw specific conclusions about where Buesching traveled at different times of the year and how old he was when he made each trip. The isotopic data from the tusks were then introduced into a spatially explicit motion model developed by Miller and colleagues. The model…
