“New Discovery of a Pacific Mastodon from the Bay Area”

 

We would like to introduce you to an exciting recent Ice Age discovery from our bay area here; the giant molar of an elephant-like creature that was neither an elephant nor a mammoth!  This is a single molar from the newly described mastodon species Mammut pacificus, sp. nov., the Pacific Mastodon, and it is perhaps the most spectacularly well-preserved mastodon molar We’ve ever seen found locally here in the Bay Area to date. It is the upper left third molar, erupted but not ejected, from a "youngish" adult (late teens/early 20's) pacific mastodon.  This is the same species that was found at Rio Del Mar Beach, Aptos, CA, a couple of years ago (https://youtu.be/2Q6VVAEz_5U?si=q9hzdRzM48Q52GBd).  We had the good fortune to be involved with this discovery from the parklands of the Mid Peninsula Regional Open Space Preserve (https://www.facebook.com/midpenopenspace) from a very early stage.  We were able to do a site geological assessment and advise on its eventual conservation with colleague Chrissy Garcia at the Doerr School of Sustainability, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Stanford University (https://sustainability.stanford.edu/).  Unlike mammoths which were grazers, the pacific mastodon was a browser, going from tree to tree in shaded riparian environments stripping leaves from trees with its trunk.  In our area during the last Ice Age this mastodon would have lived alongside other browsers, such as Jefferson’s Ground Sloth and other smaller creatures, next to the creek while at the same time Harlan’s ground sloths, mammoths, camels (yes, you heard that right), pronghorn antelopes, and giant bison were grazing in the sunny open grassy fields.  For further information on this discovery see this recent article from MidPen: https://tinyurl.com/5dcf32mz.  Great recreations by artists Haley Grunloh & Mason Schratter @masonschratterart.com.