The story of Fred the Mastodon is one that ends sadly and violently. Fred was a mastodon who roamed somewhere in the Midwestern United States 13,000 years ago, and after fighting for a mate one summer, died in a battle.
Josh Miller is a paleoecologist at the University of Cincinnati and has been one of the researchers who studied Fred.
He said that when mastodons compete for mates, they would sometimes get into huge battles where one or even both competitors may die. They used their tusks as their main weapon to battle with their other component, and one summer, a competitor stabbed his tusk right though Fred’s skull, which killed him.
As time goes by, Mastodons’ tusks grow in distinct layers, similar to the rings on a tree trunk. As a result, the nutrients that build the layers of Fred’s tusks can tell us a lot about where he was in times of his life. Miller said these layers store a daily record of Fred’s behavior.
Fred was born somewhere in the Midwestern United States and probably spent most of his early life there close to his family. However, Miller predicts that like most modern male elephants, Fred was eventually kicked out of the herd once he grew up to be annoying to his family.
“They’re essentially just really obnoxious, and they’re just getting in everyone’s hair,” Miller said. “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.”
When Fred left his family, he lived in what is now considered to be Indiana. Every summer, Fred would fight against other males for a mate, and one summer, Fred came to an end, sinking into a swampy place.
Miller said swamps were particularly good preservation, which made Fred a one-of-a-kind research opportunity. “He has beautifully preserved bones, beautifully preserved tusks, and that really provides a beautiful opportunity to do this kind of work,” Miller said.
After thousands of years, Fred body is now placed in the Indiana State Museum.
Source: https://www.indystar.com/story/life/2014/01/14/interactive-build-fred-the-mastodon/4475415/
Josh Miller is a paleoecologist at the University of Cincinnati and has been one of the researchers who studied Fred.
He said that when mastodons compete for mates, they would sometimes get into huge battles where one or even both competitors may die. They used their tusks as their main weapon to battle with their other component, and one summer, a competitor stabbed his tusk right though Fred’s skull, which killed him.
As time goes by, Mastodons’ tusks grow in distinct layers, similar to the rings on a tree trunk. As a result, the nutrients that build the layers of Fred’s tusks can tell us a lot about where he was in times of his life. Miller said these layers store a daily record of Fred’s behavior.
Fred was born somewhere in the Midwestern United States and probably spent most of his early life there close to his family. However, Miller predicts that like most modern male elephants, Fred was eventually kicked out of the herd once he grew up to be annoying to his family.
“They’re essentially just really obnoxious, and they’re just getting in everyone’s hair,” Miller said. “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.”
When Fred left his family, he lived in what is now considered to be Indiana. Every summer, Fred would fight against other males for a mate, and one summer, Fred came to an end, sinking into a swampy place.
Miller said swamps were particularly good preservation, which made Fred a one-of-a-kind research opportunity. “He has beautifully preserved bones, beautifully preserved tusks, and that really provides a beautiful opportunity to do this kind of work,” Miller said.
After thousands of years, Fred body is now placed in the Indiana State Museum.
Source: https://www.indystar.com/story/life/2014/01/14/interactive-build-fred-the-mastodon/4475415/
