"BONE-AFIDE" FACTS
The two holes in this left femur mark where scientists extracted sections of bone to sample the collagen for carbon dating. The resulting dates from his leg, and an additional sample from his tooth, all indicate that the Cohoes Mastodon died 13,000 years ago.
SKULL STRIKE
At 32 years old, the Cohoes Mastodon received a fatal blow to the left temporal lobe from a tusk of a competing male. Cracks and almost a near perfect bullseye are clearly visible where the tusk came into contact with the skull.
TUSK-TASTIC!
Each of the Cohoes Mastodon's actual tusks weighs over 45 lbs. At that weight, they would most certainly crush the skull if they were inserted and mounted. Instead, what you see on display are five-pound fiberglass replicas.
Epiphyseal Fusion
During adolesence, long bone growth occurs at the epiphyseal plate. When maturity is finally reached, growth stops and the epiphysis fuses with the rest of the bone. Although he reached adulthood, the Cohoes Mastodon's long bones never properly fused. Because of this lack of fusion and his overall small body size, for a long time scientists thought the Cohoes Mastodon was a juvenile.
TOOTHACHE
As a result of an injury to its jaw, the forward molar was knocked out of alignment and prevented the development of the rear molar. This would have made it very difficult for the Cohoes Mastodon to chew on the right side of his mouth, affecting his ability to reach proper levels of nutrition to grow. As a result, he suffered delayed sexual maturation and an extended period of nutritional stress.
Tip Toes
Did you know that mastodons, much like modern elephants, actually walk on their tiptoes? The soles of their feet consisted of a tough, fatty connective tissue that functioned as a shock absorber and helped them move rather silently in spite of their size. As they walked, the heel, with its large fat pad, would hit the ground first. Then the foot would rock onto the toes, which are the last thing to leave the ground.
JAW-STRUCK
At the age of 11, the Cohoes Mastodon received a sharp blow to his lower right jaw from the tusk of another mastodon, most likely during a musth battle to establish dominance. The impact broke a hole into his jaw and impacted his ability to chew food.
BACK BONES
A complete mastodon skeleton would contain up to 62 vertebrae, however only 28 of the Cohoes Mastodon's vertebrae were recovered from the pothole at Harmony Mills. The rest are replicas.
Explore the skeleton of the Cohoes Mastodon to uncover many of the mysteries hidden deep within its bones
Spinal column, length..................
Height at shoulder, skeleton.......
Height at shoulder, restoration..
Pelvis, width..................................
Thighbone (Femur), length.........
Tusks, length................................
Elevation of head.........................
Sex ................................................
Weight...........................................
Age.................................................
Genus.............................................
Family.............................................
Order..............................................
Class...............................................
Phylum...........................................
Kingdom........................................
15 feet
8 ft. 4-3/4 in.
8 ft. 5-1/2 in.
5 ft. 5 in.
41 in.
35 in. (fractured)
8 ft. 11 in.
Male
5 to 6 tons
32 (Average Life Span 50 years)
Mammut
Mammutidae
Proboscidea
Mammalia
Chordata
Animalia
- Over 84 bones from the Cohoes Mastodon were recovered from the murky pothole at Harmony Mills, making it roughly 40% complete.
- A single mastodon femur (upper leg bone) can measure 45-50 inches long, roughly the size of a three-year-old child.
- The average length of a mastodon's tusk is 55 inches. Unfortunately, portions of the Cohoes Mastodon's tusks had broken off before they were recovered, making them only 35 inches long.
- The tusks of American mastodon, like those of modern elephants, are actually modified incisor teeth that grow continually throughout the life of the individual. Similar to counting the rings on trees, scientists can determine the age of the animal by counting yearly growth rings present in the cross-section of the tusks. Additionally, these rings contain chemicals that allow scientists to measure dietary and nutritional information. This is how we know that Cohoes Mastodon suffered nutritional stress at age 11, and that he was 32 years old when he died.
This furry recreation stood next to skeleton of the Cohoes Mastodon in the State Education Building from 1922-1976.
It is now on view at the Cohoes Library.
ARTICLES & ONLINE RESOURCES
New York State Museum Resources
- New York State Museum Cohoes Mastodon Exhibition
http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/exhibitions/ongoing/cohoes-mastodon-0
- Pleistocene Vertebrate Paleontology Research & Collections
http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/research-collections/paleontology/vertebrate-paleontology
Discovery at Harmony Mills
- Mastodon Unearthed
http://hoxsie.org/2015/10/20/a-mastodon-unearthed/
- Historic Cohoes: The Cohoes Mastodon
http://www.harmonymillslofts.com/cohoes-mastodon/
Life-like Mastodon Recreation from 1922
- The “Reincarnated” Cohoes Mastodon at the Cohoes Library
http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/2009/03/30/reincarnating-the-cohoes-masto/
Research and Discovery
- When Mammoths and Mastodons Roamed New York
http://www.watershedpost.com/2012/when-mammoths-and-mastodons-roamed-new-york
- Ice Age fossils may offer hints to future
http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Ice-Age-fossils-may-offer-hints-to-future-580459.php
PUBLICATIONS
Fisher, D. C. (2009). Paleobiology and extinction of proboscideans in the Great Lakes region of North America. In American megafaunal extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene (pp. 55-75). Springer Netherlands.
Hall, James. (1871). Notes and Observations on the Cohoes Mastodon. 21st Annual Report of the Regents of the University of the State of New York (pp. 99-148). Vanbenthuysen Press, Albany.
Haynes, G. (1993). Mammoths, mastodonts, and elephants: biology, behavior and the fossil record. Cambridge University Press.
Olsen, S. J. (1972). Osteology for the Archaeologist: American Mastadon and the Woolly Mammoth; North American Birds: Skulls and Mandibles; North American Birds: Postcranial Skeletons (Vol. 56, No. 3-5). Peabody Museum Press.
Semonin, P. (2000). American monster: How the nation's first prehistoric creature became a symbol of national identity. NYU Press.
Shoshani, J., & Tassy, P. (Eds.). (1996). The Proboscidea: evolution and palaeoecology of elephants and their relatives (p. 472). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 |
 |
 |
Office of Cultural Education New York State Education Department Information: 518-474-5877 Contact Us | Image Requests | Terms of Use |