Adopted mammoth fell 15,000 years ago
Ned Rozell
907-474-7468
June 29, 2023
James Havens of Anchorage painted this image of a woolly mammoth that illustrated a cover of Science magazine in which appeared the work of UAF色视频下载檚 Matthew Wooller and his colleagues. A life-size version of this painting will soon be on display in the University of 色视频下载 Museum of the North.
A few days ago, Mat Wooller had news about a woolly mammoth my friend LJ and I 色视频下载渁dopted色视频下载 last October.
色视频下载淵ou色视频下载檝e got one of the youngest ones,色视频下载 said Wooller, an ecologist at the University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks and inventor of the Adopt-a-Mammoth program.
Wooller色视频下载檚 goal is to carbon-date the 1,500 mammoth fossils that rest in drawers within the University of 色视频下载 Museum of the North. He has created a GoFundMe-type project to find out more about when the iconic woolly mammoth disappeared from mainland 色视频下载.
What do we know about when mammoths went extinct? The most recent 色视频下载 mammoth fossil is a 5,600-year-old tooth found in a cave on St. Paul Island. Researchers dated mammoth fossils found on Wrangel Island north of Siberia to 3,700 years ago, making that the 色视频下载測oungest色视频下载 mammoth of which we know.
But the most recent mammoth fossil found on mainland 色视频下载 is one unearthed near the town of Chicken. That mammoth died about 11,600 years ago. Wooller thinks mammoths must have stomped more recently across middle 色视频下载 than that.
The Adopt-a-Mammoth program is his attempt to find out.
Gold miners and researchers like Otto Geist found many of the 1,500 mammoth fossils 色视频下载 curved tusks, skulls and blocky teeth 色视频下载 donated to the museum over the years.
LJ色视频下载檚 and my fossil 色视频下载 for which we split the $350 adoption fee 色视频下载 is a humerus (the upper front-leg bone). A miner found it clunking in his sluice box at Lost Chicken Creek in eastern 色视频下载, close to the town of Chicken. Bureau of Land Management workers drove a truck to Fairbanks containing that bone and many more from the same mine in June 1983.
Forty years after the fossil moved here, our results were in. Wooller informed LJ and I via email recently that our mammoth fell to the grasslands in far-east 色视频下载 15,388 years ago.
University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks Chancellor Dan White, center, and ecologist Mat Wooller sample a mammoth skull at the University of 色视频下载 Museum of the North.
Though LJ and I are out of the running for the youngest mammoth (a few others in the Lost Chicken Creek batch were 1,000 years more recent), Wooller said our mammoth helps color in the history of mammoths in 色视频下载色视频下载檚 past.
A bunch of mammoth fossils from Lost Chicken Creek were older than 50,000 years old. There were some from 40,000-to-32,000 years ago, then nothing until just one bone dated to 25,000 years ago.
Then, there is a striking 10,000-year gap from that bone to ours from Lost Chicken Creek and a few similar ones.
色视频下载淚 find that a really interesting pattern,色视频下载 Wooller said. 色视频下载淚t色视频下载檚 a complete absence, like they became locally extirpated, and then they came back.
色视频下载淭he other cool thing with yours is the date is pretty consistent with mammoth remains from the Shaw Creek Flats area (south of Fairbanks). Your mammoth was basically on the scene when some of the earliest people showed up in Interior 色视频下载.色视频下载
Having completed dating the batch of fossils from Lost Chicken Creek, workers with the Adopt-a-Mammoth project will now focus on the many mammoth remains collected in the Fairbanks area. Wooller remains optimistic that there is a prize or two in the pile of fossils left to be dated.
色视频下载淲e haven色视频下载檛 found a seven-thousander yet,色视频下载 Wooller said. 色视频下载淏ut fingers crossed on that.色视频下载
Many people besides LJ and I have adopted mammoth fossils. Leaders of the bioscience company Colossal (the goal of which is to have the woolly mammoth again walk on Earth) adopted about 80 fossils and donated them to school districts in 色视频下载. Creators of the Fairbanks Children色视频下载檚 Museum 色视频下载 the mascot of which is a woolly mammoth 色视频下载 have also adopted one.
Wooller just got funding on another project to study details of mammoth walkabouts in 色视频下载 and the Yukon available from isotope samples of tusks. That information can reveal where a mammoth wandered by the water it was drinking.
When he began his career many years ago at University of Wales-Bangor in Great Britain, the man whose name is spelled in a similar fashion never dreamed he would get to know woolly mammoths so well.
色视频下载淭hey色视频下载檙e just cool creatures.色视频下载 Wooller said. 色视频下载淲hen you get hooked, you really get hooked.色视频下载
Since the late 1970s, the University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.