In June of 1998, Dan Buesching was excavating on his family farm in Indiana when he noticed a tooth. This surprising disvovery ended up being one of Fred the Mastodon’s teeth.
“When I was digging, I had no idea what it was,” Dan said. “I had one of the bones in a bucket and realized it didn’t belong. It was quite a shock!”
A team of students and volunteers from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne helped excavate the rest of Fred’s body. The team wasn’t able to find Fred’s hip and right back leg, but they found the seldom recovered throat and toe bones. Fred was donated to the Indiana Museum in 2006.
A paleoecologist at the University of Cincinnati, Josh Miller co-authored a research paper that investigated Fred. Miller stated that swamps were particularly good for preservation, and because Fred had died in one, he was able to conduct good research o. Fred’s tusks.
The tusks of the Mastodon develop in layers, and so the nutrients in Fred’s tusks are able to tell where he was in various parts of his life. Scientists were able to track Fred’s journey through the isotopes.
Fred the Mastodon was born more than 13,000 years ago in the Midwestern United States. Scientists assume that he was most likely kicked out of his family and spent the rest of his life in modern Indiana. Each summer, he would compete in violent competitions with other males for a mate.
Fred died in a violent battle in which another male Mastodon thrust his tusks into Fred’s skull. He was 34 years old.
Sources: https://www.indianamuseum.org/blog-post/fred-the-mastodon-moves-to-permanent-home-at-the-indiana-state-museum/
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/07/1109839726/research-news-science-nature-mastodon#:~:text=Every%20summer%2C%20he’d%20compete,in%20the%20Indiana%20State%20Museum.
“When I was digging, I had no idea what it was,” Dan said. “I had one of the bones in a bucket and realized it didn’t belong. It was quite a shock!”
A team of students and volunteers from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne helped excavate the rest of Fred’s body. The team wasn’t able to find Fred’s hip and right back leg, but they found the seldom recovered throat and toe bones. Fred was donated to the Indiana Museum in 2006.
A paleoecologist at the University of Cincinnati, Josh Miller co-authored a research paper that investigated Fred. Miller stated that swamps were particularly good for preservation, and because Fred had died in one, he was able to conduct good research o. Fred’s tusks.
The tusks of the Mastodon develop in layers, and so the nutrients in Fred’s tusks are able to tell where he was in various parts of his life. Scientists were able to track Fred’s journey through the isotopes.
Fred the Mastodon was born more than 13,000 years ago in the Midwestern United States. Scientists assume that he was most likely kicked out of his family and spent the rest of his life in modern Indiana. Each summer, he would compete in violent competitions with other males for a mate.
Fred died in a violent battle in which another male Mastodon thrust his tusks into Fred’s skull. He was 34 years old.
Sources: https://www.indianamuseum.org/blog-post/fred-the-mastodon-moves-to-permanent-home-at-the-indiana-state-museum/
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/07/1109839726/research-news-science-nature-mastodon#:~:text=Every%20summer%2C%20he’d%20compete,in%20the%20Indiana%20State%20Museum.
