An Unusual Mastodon Revisited: Providing a Regional Focus for Mammut americanum (Proboscidea, Mammutidae) in the Southeast
A century ago, two large American mastodon Mammut americanum specimens from coastal South Carolina were mounted for display at Amherst College. Their robust build, broad and pentalophodont third molars, and well-developed mandibular tusks were noted as unusual. Here, these specimens are redescribed;...
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| Format: | Others |
| Language: | English |
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Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University
2020
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| Online Access: | https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3772 https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5212&context=etd |
| Summary: | A century ago, two large American mastodon Mammut americanum specimens from coastal South Carolina were mounted for display at Amherst College. Their robust build, broad and pentalophodont third molars, and well-developed mandibular tusks were noted as unusual. Here, these specimens are redescribed; three additional mastodon mandibles from the same region of South Carolina are also described. Though collection information on these specimens is sparse, they appear to span >150 ka in the Middle to Late Pleistocene, and probably include the first report of Mammut from the earliest-Rancholabrean Ten Mile Hill Formation. Some “unusual” features — moderately to extremely broad third molars, longitudinally-wrinkled enamel, very robust mandibles, large mandibular tusks — are present in most or all specimens, and may characterize regional mastodons. Description of these mastodons provides a useful starting point for more-thorough evaluation of the species in the Southeastern United States. |
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