A Mastodon dinosaur was called Fred. In his early stage of life he lived with his family, but as he got older he moved away just like a dinosaur should do. When a dinosaur gets a mate, they fight against each other using their tusks, unfortunately bringing competitors to an end.
Fred was born about 13,000 years ago. He lived a good life until he left his family and roamed to what is nowadays called Indiana. He was believed to be kicked out of the family because he was a nuisance and disturbing growth throughout the family. Fred died fighting for a mate, he was 34 years old when he died. It was 11,000 years ago when his kind grew extinct.
In order to get a mate you had to compete against other males, these battles sometimes caused one of the Dinos to die (sometimes even both). These fight were always violent and included physical fighting. Fred died when he was stabbed in the skull one summer looking for a mate. Fred’s tusks also show that he won some battles and that he fought many. When he died he was pushed into a swamp. Swamps were actually a good way to preserve these bones because they would absorb the bones and keep them fresh.
Tusks are a good way to see the animal’s life even though the animal is not physically there. You could see the marks on their tusks, and they showed marks, slashes, black bones, and other things they probably did. Their tusks are also their number one weapons because they can move their heads easily and makes it an easy weapon to use, also it is very powerful and sharp.
“Every time spring comes around, we get an arc of these defects that that represents tusk damage [in male specimens],” Daniel Fisher, a paleontologist that goes to the University of Michigan, said. The team could read the tusks chronologically, and they were able to line up springtime with the damage incurred by battles with competitors.
Once in a while, Fred would go back and see his family. “They’re essentially just really obnoxious, and they’re just getting in everyone’s hair,” said Josh Miller, a paleoecologist who attends University of Cincinnati, and was one of the researchers who also authored the article looking at Fred. “They’re just not particularly helpful members of the herd. And at that point, the mom, the aunts, will essentially boot that individual from the maternal herd.”
Fred may have had a bad ending, having a tusk in his skull and living a painful life, but he has left a good mark for scientists to study.
Link: https://gizmodo.com/13-000-year-old-tusk-reveals-life-of-fred-a-mastodon-w-1849057677
Fred was born about 13,000 years ago. He lived a good life until he left his family and roamed to what is nowadays called Indiana. He was believed to be kicked out of the family because he was a nuisance and disturbing growth throughout the family. Fred died fighting for a mate, he was 34 years old when he died. It was 11,000 years ago when his kind grew extinct.
In order to get a mate you had to compete against other males, these battles sometimes caused one of the Dinos to die (sometimes even both). These fight were always violent and included physical fighting. Fred died when he was stabbed in the skull one summer looking for a mate. Fred’s tusks also show that he won some battles and that he fought many. When he died he was pushed into a swamp. Swamps were actually a good way to preserve these bones because they would absorb the bones and keep them fresh.
Tusks are a good way to see the animal’s life even though the animal is not physically there. You could see the marks on their tusks, and they showed marks, slashes, black bones, and other things they probably did. Their tusks are also their number one weapons because they can move their heads easily and makes it an easy weapon to use, also it is very powerful and sharp.
“Every time spring comes around, we get an arc of these defects that that represents tusk damage [in male specimens],” Daniel Fisher, a paleontologist that goes to the University of Michigan, said. The team could read the tusks chronologically, and they were able to line up springtime with the damage incurred by battles with competitors.
Once in a while, Fred would go back and see his family. “They’re essentially just really obnoxious, and they’re just getting in everyone’s hair,” said Josh Miller, a paleoecologist who attends University of Cincinnati, and was one of the researchers who also authored the article looking at Fred. “They’re just not particularly helpful members of the herd. And at that point, the mom, the aunts, will essentially boot that individual from the maternal herd.”
Fred may have had a bad ending, having a tusk in his skull and living a painful life, but he has left a good mark for scientists to study.
Link: https://gizmodo.com/13-000-year-old-tusk-reveals-life-of-fred-a-mastodon-w-1849057677
