Scientists excited about mammoth discovery in Iowa
June 7th, 2012 - 8:13 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattOskaloosa (Iowa), June 7 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The rare discovery of mammoth bones on a rural Iowa farm has left archaeological scientists very excited.
The unusual of an undisturbed mammoth’s skeleton will allow University of Iowa experts to gather pollen and other vegetable evidence at the archaeological site that could help scientists to find out more information about Iowa’s prehistoric environment.
Archaeologists are planning to scan the unidentified farm with ground penetrating radars tomorrow to determine if they can ascertain how much of the mammoth remains underground. They will continue excavating throughout the summer.
Mammoth bones were first discovered two years ago by the owner of the farm, which has remained unidentified to protect the site from intruders and archaeology enthusiasts.
The mammoth was a species of the genus Mammuthus, already extinct proboscideans that had long, curved tusks. Along with the elephant, the mammoth was a member of the Elephantidae family.
They lived from the Pliocene epoch from around 5 million years ago, into the Holocene, when they became extinct. Scientists are still unsure of the reasons why the mammoth became extinct.
Nevertheless, a warming trend, that was later accompanied by a glacial and a rise in sea levels have been identified as the possible causes of the animal’s extinction.
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Tags: archaeologists, archaeology, elephant, extinction, genus, holocene, intruders, iowa farm, mammoth bones, million years, oskaloosa iowa, pliocene epoch, pollen, proboscideans, rare discovery, sea levels, skeleton, tusks, university of iowa, warming trend