This is the first intact mastodon
skull found in Chile South America .
The extinction of large animals
in the Northern Hemisphere can be explained by the event that I have named the
Pleistocene nonconformity which initially decimated the extant
populations. We can easily surmise that
the remainder was hunted out by early man who had the tools. The problem I have with all that is the
African Elephant particularly. It never
was successfully hunted by well equipped local tribesmen before the advent of
modern arms.
That it could be hunted is
irrelevant, it simply never was properly exploited. Thus I find the human agency theory for both Americas
As this item reminds us, this
creature was able to populate every valley on earth at will, and only a handful
ever pulled that feat off.
On top of that the mastodon was a
forest dweller, quite able to protect itself.
Recall that no one in his right mind is going to sneak up on an elephant
in the woods and stick a spear into its gut.
There is plenty of easier ways to make a meal.
They almost certainly would have
been trapped in a pit at the least. They
were also likely too clever to run over a cliff or even be stampeded. Certainly, African elephant do not look
likely to ever stampede, unless it is over their tormentors.
The fact remains that the genus
is incredibly successful. Yet we have
huge extinction events that can not be properly explained. Even the Indian Elephant avoided extinction
and it was exposed to some of the worse land disturbances if we accept the consequences
of the Nonconformity. In fact all
obvious threats are just as obviously survivable. These creatures were never thin on the ground
and vulnerable to over hunting at all.
Besides, you would only learn to hunt them if they were common enough to
make it worthwhile. Even in Africa , that turned out to be an unattractive
proposition.
On top of that, the end of the
Ice Age would have naturally expanded their range and they would have easily
adapted to warmer conditions.
One other option that does work
is that they were deliberately hunted out by an ancestral human stock with
access to modern tools. We could today
choose to eliminate all elephants quite easily and could also reduce or
eliminate a few other inconvenient large creatures. I prefer not to use that option, except that
the genus was just too successful globally to simply disappear easily.
Builders unearth 2million-year-old skull and tusks of elephant's
ancient relative
Last updated at 11:46 AM on 25th March 2011
The skull and tusks of a giant primitive elephant that died up to
2million years have been discovered by builders in Chile
The mastodon, around the same size as modern elephants, is thought to
have roamed forests and plains before dying and sinking into a swamp that
preserved it.
The find, beside a river, could allow scientists to piece together more
information about the DNA they share with their much bigger relative, the
woolly mammoth.
Preserved: The remains of a mastodon discovered on the building site of
a hydroelectric plant in Chile
It could also shed more light on the origins of elephants.
The discovery was made by contrustion workers building a hydroelectric
power plant beside a river in Padre Hurtaldo, near the Chilean capital Santiago
Digging into the ground, they first noticed the pointed end of one of
the 4ft long by 6in wide tusks.
Paleontologists were called in and, after further excavation,
discovered what is Chile
Directed by Rafael Labarca, of Chile
Intact: The discovery's is the first complete skull of the ancient
creature ever made in Chile
Big gnashers: The massive, crushing molar teeth that measure about 9in
long
'Practically the whole skull complete and in perfect conditions, with
its four molars and together with both tusks of almost four feet in length.
'In addition, inside the skull one was part of the vertebrae of the
spine.'
Mastodons were around the same size as modern elephants but were much
more heavily muscled and had furry coats to protect them from cold.
The ancestry of the elephant has long been a source of fascination for
biologists.
Fossil evidence shows it began in Africa
around 50million to 60million years ago with moeritheres, pig-like creatures
with long snouts.
Brushing teeth: Paleontologist Consuelo Huidobro cleans the molars.
They could provide clues about elephants
These animals evolved into a range of other species, many of them much
larger, and spread across the globe, inhabiting every continent except
Australasia and Antarctica .
The four-tusked trilophodon appeared 26million years ago and lasted
until 2million years ago in Eurasia, Africa, and North
America . Modern humans, by contrast, evolved only around 200,000
years ago.
Biggest of all was the imperial mammoth, which adapted to the cold in
Eurasia, Africa, and North America during the
Pleistocene epoch 2million years ago.
It is believed that they are the closest relative of the elephants.
Unlike, mastadons which eat shoots and leaves, mammoths were grazers.
Both species appear to have survived until just a few thousand years
ago and early humans would have been familiar with them.
Padre Hurtado: Where the mastodon was found
It is believed that the evolution and extinction of many modern
elephant species may be closely tied up with the spread of the human race.
Both mammoths and mastodons are proboscids, but the former is assigned
to the mammutidae family, while the latter is of the eliphantitae.
Most excavations of mastodons have been made in North
America . Very few have been discovered in the southern part of the
continent.
Previously, only fragments had been found in Chile
One of the biggest finds was made in 1993 at the Diamond
Valley Lake
reservoir outside of Hemet ,
California
It yielded numerous remains and led to the site being nicknamed the
"Valley of the Mastodons".
Current excavations are going on annually at the Hiscock Site in Byron , New York
In July 2007, the longest mastodon tusks in the world – measuring 16ft
and each weighing a ton – were discovered in Milia, north of Athens
Read more:
No comments:
Post a Comment