Indiana Farmers Find 13,000-Year-Old Mastodon Bones An Indiana farm’s sewer project unearthed 13,000-year-old mastodon bones in April, according to reports. The Schepman family said they first thought chicken or cow remains were found when they unearthed the ancient bones, reported The Seymour Tribune. Then, they spotted a giant tusk and thigh bones and knew it wasn’t anything that had lived there in recent times. The remains of a mastodon were found in Seymour last week. A spokesperson for the Indiana State Museum estimates it died somewhere between 10,000 and 13,000 years ago. Posted by The Tribune (Jackson County, Indiana) on Tuesday, April 16, 2019 “It’s amazing to think about something this large roaming around this area,” Joe Schepman told the Tribune. “The weight of them is unbelievable,” he said as he held the bone. Schepman said, “When the tusks were on the animal, they were about 9 feet long, if you can imagine that.” Scientists believe the forest-dwelling animal roamed Central and North America. They went extinct about 10,000 years ago. Researchers believe that mastodons appear similar to elephants and mammoths. “There are several other differences. Mastodons were slightly smaller than mammoths. Though they are both herbivores, they ate differently. Mastodons had blunt, cone-shaped molars that would crush vegetation, while mammoths had ridged molars that cut plants, much like today’s elephants,” according to LiveScience. Mastodons also had much smaller ears than modern elephants and were covered in brown fur. Males’ tusks could grow about 8 feet in length. They have big plans for the discovery. Posted by The Kansas City Star on Friday, April 19, 2019 “It was a very big animal, and it’s amazing to think about what was here before us and how we don’t think anything about it,” son Brad Schepman told the Tribune. Museum expert Ron Richards said that mastodon bones are found in Indiana about twice per year. “People find them interesting because they were real, they were here and they’re every bit as much a Hoosier as I am,” Richards said. A mastodon named “Fred” found in 1998 is a fixture at the Indiana State Museum. The Schepman said they will donate the remains to the museum. “It would be so cool for a kid from here to go to the museum in Indianapolis and see these bones and the tusk and know they were found in their hometown,” Brad Schepman said. https://www.facebook.com/SEEScienceCenter/posts/2791567190883283 The first mastodon remnant was discovered in Claverack, New York, in 1705 and it was called “incognitum,” according to Extinct Animals. “It is believed that males battled against each other during mating season, occasionally killing one another,” the website says, adding: “The build of the Mastodons were more similar to the Asian elephants. Compared to Mammoths, they had heavily muscled longer body with shorter legs. Females were smaller than males. They had a long skull and long curved tusks. They had cusp-shaped teeth that were well adapted for chewing leaves and shrubs.” Other details about the finding in Indiana are not clear.<doc-sep>SEYMOUR, Ind. (AP) — Workers installing sewer lines across a southern Indiana farm unearthed the fossilized bones of a mastodon that likely stood about 9 feet (2.7 meters) tall. The bones include most of a tusk, parts of a skull and a jawbone with teeth. They were recently dug up on a farm in Seymour, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) south of Indianapolis. Joe Schepman owns the farm with his family. He tells The Seymour Tribune that “it’s amazing to think about something this large roaming around this area.” Ron Richards is senior research curator of paleobiology at the Indiana State Museum. He says the mastodon would have stood between 9 (2.7 meters) and 9½ feet (2.8 meters) tall. Richards says the fossil’s age will be determined using radiocarbon dating.<doc-sep>Sewer project leads to chance discovery of remains belonging to extinct animal who roamed earth over 10,000 years ago SEYMOUR, Ind. — Pieces of ancient history were found six feet underground on a Southern Indiana farm recently, reminding us of a time when giant mammals roamed the earth. Several mastodon bones were found on Joe Schepman's family farm in Seymour, Indiana, while a sewer project was underway. The bones are believed to belong to a male mastodon that was around 50-years-old when it died. The nearly nine-foot-long tusk came out of the ground in one piece and was accompanied by a massive tooth and other bones belonging to the large, extinct, elephant-like creature that roamed the earth over 10,000 years ago. The remains would never have been unearthed if it wasn't for the excavation process done during that project. The bones were about six-feet underground. Schepman got the call about their discovery from his sister and brother-in-law, Sue and Tony Nehrt, who also own the farm. Schepman said they were all excited when they found out. "Whoa this is something very large and very old," he said. "I mean it was just unbelievable." The Schepman family has owned the farm for generations and were blown away by the chance discovery. “It’s hard to wrap your mind around that kind of stuff,” Schepman said. “I’m glad to tell the story about finding it and telling people what I’ve learned about mastodons.” Mastodon remains are not entirely unusual in Indiana, however, this find was unique in that the bones were largely intact. The Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites houses other mastodon remains found in Fort Wayne, and the Schepman’s plan to donate theirs to the museum as well. But not before naming their new-found friend.<doc-sep>
Workers installing a new sewer on an Indiana farm made a mammoth discovery this week — 13,000-year-old mastodon bones. The Schepman family of Seymour first thought cow or chicken remains had been found during the renovations, but when they saw a giant tusk and 4-foot-long thigh bones, they realized the beast was much larger and more ancient. “It’s amazing to think about something this large roaming around this area,” Joe Schepman told the Seymour Tribune. “The weight of them is unbelievable,” he said while holding a bone. “When the tusks were on the animal, they were about 9 feet long if you can imagine that.” An ancient member of the elephant family, scientists estimate the forest-dwelling creatures roamed North and Central America before they became extinct more than 10,000 years ago, likely due to overhunting by tribes. An expert from the Indiana State Museum studied the bones and confirmed the remains belong to a male mastodon weighing 12,000 pounds who would have been aged between 40 and 50 when he died 13,000 years ago. “It was a very big animal, and it’s amazing to think about what was here before us and how we don’t think anything about it,” son Brad Schepman said. While it is rare to find so many bones from the same animal, museum expert Ron Richards told the Seymour Tribune that mastodon bones are found in Indiana up to twice a year. “People find them interesting because they were real, they were here and they’re every bit as much a Hoosier as I am,” Richards said. An American mastodon unearthed in 1998 named “Fred” is already an iconic fixture at the Indiana State Museum. The Schepman family have decided to donate the remains to the museum so they could be “enjoyed by everyone.” “It would be so cool for a kid from here to go to the museum in Indianapolis and see these bones and the tusk and know they were found in their hometown,” Brad Schepman said. This story originally appeared in the New York Post.