A Mastodon from Stanton County, Kansas

Abstract

In July, 1974, Mr. Robert Seger exposed the partial remains of a mastodon (Mammut americanum) while bulidozing an irrigation reservoir on his land near Johnson, Kansas. Species identification was based upon the morphology of the fibula (Olsen, 1972: 35). Mammoths in general have longer and more slender bones than the mastodon (ibid: 5). The fibula in the mammoth is especially elongated, narrow and is more pointed at the proximal end (ibid: 22). The specimen recovered, while its proximal end was broken off, was still more massivc thicker in crosssection at all points on the shaft than that illustrated (ibid: Fig. 28) for mammoth. Also the distal end was largerwhen viewed laterally as Olsen illustrates (ibid). Since the tibia is quite similar in both animals (ibid: 22) it was not used. The tusk that was present was short and straight, a feature of the mastodon, but since long tusked mammoth have been reported (ibid: 4-5) it was not the deciding criteria. The specimens collected consisted of part of a broken tusk, and an articulating tibia and fibula. A patella was recovered from the bulidozed area by a Kansas State University geology student several days after the author had examined the site. Additional bones were also exposed at that time. The data suggest that while some portions of the skeleton were articulated others were not, indicating that the animal had been slightly disturbed by elemental forces after its death. The remains were examined by the writer, after she was notified of the find by the Seger family, in the hopes that Paleo-lndian Llano complex (Clovis) materials might be in association with it. No evidence of human association was uncovered but the material is reported here in the hopes that by accumulating specific data on mammoth and mastodondistribution in Kansas, amodel oftheirassociationwith Pleistocene and Recent deposits might be constructed. For example, are all mammoth remains found in loess soil associations suggesting a grassland? Are all the mastodon found only in waterlaid soils associated with ancient bogs suggesting their exploitation of that specific ecological niche? Are the remains of both animals found together in the same ecological niches suggesting they were sympatric species? Thus, if they are found to be associated with specific named geologic formations or specific soil types can we then go to those geologic or soil locations and find additional remains of the animals? If so, it is hoped that such a model would be useful in predicting the location of Paleo-lndian Llano complex (Clovis) kill sites within the state.