Mammoth remains have been known on the northern Channel Islands of California since 1856.
They were first reported in scientific literature in 1873.

In 1994 the National Park Service called in scientists to inspect an uncovered, unidentified skeleton found on the northeast coast of Santa Rosa Island.
They found bones of the axial skeleton of a large land vertebrate and decided to excavate and dig up the skeleton.
They recovered 90% of a mature male pygmy mammoth's skeleton.
The mammoth was about 50 years old when it died.
The small bones were preserved in life position, which represented that it had died where it was found rather than being scattered around the island.
The bones were returned to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

After the discovery of the skeleton, a pedestrian survey of the island was started, which resulted in the discovery of 160 new locations of mammoth remains, the vast majority being found on Santa Rosa Island.

This was the first discovery of a nearly complete specimen of the pygmy mammoth.
Fortunately enough, the skeleton of the mammoth was only missing a foot, a tusk, and a couple of vertebrae.
The remains were covered by a sand dune, which prevented the bones from scattering and kept them intact.
Mammoth remains have been known on the northern Channel Islands of California since 1856. They were first reported in scientific literature in 1873.
In 1994 the National Park Service called in scientists to inspect an uncovered, unidentified skeleton found on the northeast coast of Santa Rosa Island. They found bones of the axial skeleton of a large land vertebrate and decided to excavate and dig up the skeleton. They recovered 90% of a mature male pygmy mammoth's skeleton. The mammoth was about 50 years old when it died. The small bones were preserved in life position, which represented that it had died where it was found rather than being scattered around the island. The bones were returned to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
After the discovery of the skeleton, a pedestrian survey of the island was started, which resulted in the discovery of 160 new locations of mammoth remains, the vast majority being found on Santa Rosa Island.
This was the first discovery of a nearly complete specimen of the pygmy mammoth. Fortunately enough, the skeleton of the mammoth was only missing a foot, a tusk, and a couple of vertebrae. The remains were covered by a sand dune, which prevented the bones from scattering and kept them intact.
Pygmy mammoth