After touring Wind Cave National Park yesterday, Dave and I drove on to Hot Springs to visit the Mammoth Site. Wooly mammoth bones were discovered here in 1974 by a developer who was going to build some houses. Now it is a palentology center like no other in the U.S. The museum, exhibits, and excavation sites are all indoors. We paid $8 each to tour everything, including the lab.
These mammoths met their demise when they went to get a drink and fell into a sinkhole and couldn't get back out. Strangely, all the remains that they have found so far have been of males. Is it that the males were more adventurous than the females?
Tusks and other body parts
Skull of a mammoth with tusks
Twisted skeleton of a mammoth--see the spine and some scattered rib bones?
Another skeleton--see the spine with the ribs intact?
Since all the DNA has been baked out of the bones, if the bones are scattered, the paleontologists can't tell which bones belong to which mammoth, unless they find a complete skeleton.
This is a working site and we saw some workers/volunteers participating in the excavation process.
After viewing the dig site, we visited the exhibit hall.
Napoleon, a Columbian mammoth
Lyuba--baby mammoth from Siberia, found in 2007
Hebior mammoth skeleton found in a corn field in Kenosha County, Wisconsin.
Mammoth bone house
Inside the mammoth bone house
Today Dave and I drove on the wildlife loop of Custer State Park. We saw a prairie dog trying to cross the road, two deer, six Pronghorn antelopes, friendly burros looking for a handout, and a herd of bison.
Pronghorn antelope
Female pronghorn
The reason they found only males in the drinking hole was because that was the only pub (watering hole) in the state at that time and the guys used to like to get together after the big game to celebrate!
ReplyDeleteEither that 'the end' burrow gets lots of snacks, or there's going to be another little burrow soon. :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting stuff, thanks:)
ReplyDeleteGreat info on the mammoth site.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the officials joined the "guys" at the pub after the big game?
This find is much like the LaBrea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. What HUGE animals those wooly mammoths! You have seen so much of the wild life along the way. So many memories to store up.
ReplyDeleteJackie B.
That Mammoth site looks like a neat place to visit. Hmmm, wonder if I could workkamp there. In 2005 we drove through that wildlife loop and the bison came very close to our car.
ReplyDeleteJackie, the LaBrea Tar Pits is another good place to visit. This excavation site did remind both Dave and me of our visits to the La Brea Tar Pits.
ReplyDelete