The recent unearthing of a rare mammoth skull at the Channel Islands National Park was accomplished with the assistance of personnel from The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. We spoke with the director of the world-renowned mammoth research facility about what the find means.
An exceptionally well-preserved fossil of a complete mammoth skull has been uncovered from an eroding stream bank on Santa Rosa Island in California.
Scientists for the U.S. Geological Survey have dated charcoal samples adjacent to the specimen at about 13,000 years. That dating is significant and coincides with the oldest human skeletal remains found in North America.
But Mammoth Site director Jim Mead says there’s another aspect of the find that’s even more striking.
“This recent skull…which is in tremendously good shape…it’s not really a Pygmy Mammoth,” explains Mead. “But it’s not as large as the Columbian Mammoth which had occurred on the mainland or here at The Mammoth Site. So we have an intermediary. And the question would be…are we seeing an instance where the Columbian through evolutionary process has become smaller.”
Mead adds that the skull is so well preserved the excavation team anticipates being able to extract DNA from the fossil in order to help determine identification.
The next step, explains Mead, is to “jacket” the mammoth skull in burlap and plaster to protect it as it’s flown by helicopter to the mainland.
The mammoth’s final destination is the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History to be cleaned, preserved and studied.
Jim Mead notes that personnel from The Mammoth Site will play an integral part in that process.
Related links:
Channel Islands National Park
https://www.facebook.com/channelislandsnps/?fref=ts
The Mammoth Site
https://www.facebook.com/The-Mammoth-Site-of-Hot-Springs-South-Dakota-14775842082/?fref=ts