Florida Natural History Museum Discovers Ancient Gomphothere Elephant Graveyard in Northern Florida

Jakarta –

A team of researchers and volunteers at the Florida Natural History Museum discovered an ancient ‘elephant graveyard’ containing the fossilized remains of the long-extinct ancestor of modern-day pachyderms. This discovery could also provide the largest animal specimen ever found in Florida, United States.

About 5.5 million years ago, a number of gomphotheres, the extinct ancestors of elephants, died in or around a now-lost prehistoric river in northern Florida. While it’s likely the animals died at different times, several hundred years apart, their bodies will remain in the same location where they were ‘buried’ until early 2022.

At that time, the team found part of a gomphothere skeleton at the Montbrook fossil dig site. A number of isolated fragments and bones have been found at the site in the past, so there is no reason to ignore this site. Several days later, the volunteers found what appeared to be a large foot. Subsequent work revealed that the find was part of a gomphothere’s body. Soon after, they found the entire skeleton, and it was a very exciting find for the team.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime find. It’s the most complete gomphothere skeleton from this time period in Florida and among the best in North America,” said Jonathan Bloch, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Florida Natural History Museum.

The animal is not alone. In the end, the team recovered the entire skeletons of one adult individual and at least seven juveniles. More in-depth research is needed before the team can accurately determine the size of the animals. But Bloch believes the adult specimen was about 2.4 meters tall including the tusks, and its skull measured more than 2.7 meters. To give you an idea, this animal was about the size of a modern African elephant. So far, the find is a record for a local gomphothere specimen.

“Modern elephants travel in herds and can be very protective of their young,” explains Rachel Narducci, manager of the vertebrate paleontology collection at the Florida Museum. “But I don’t think it’s a situation where they all die at once. It’s like members of one or several packs are stuck in this one place at different times,” he explained.

“We’ve never seen anything like it at Montbrook. Usually, we only find one part skeleton at this site. Gomphotheres must have been buried quickly, or they may have become trapped in a low-flowing river bank,” Narducci added.

Gomphotheres, along with modern elephants, are collectively called proboscidea. Elephant relatives were once abundant on most continents until humans arrived, and gomphotheres are among the most diverse.

These large mammals have a very long place in the fossil record, spanning more than 20 million years. They first appeared in Africa, then spread throughout Europe and Asia, finally crossing the Bering Land Bridge into North America. During this time, they developed a variety of unique features that allowed them to survive wherever they settled.

“We all generally know what mastodons and woolly mammoths looked like, but gomphotheres are not easy to categorize,” says Narducci. “They have a wide range of body sizes, and the shape of their tusks differs greatly between species.”

Typically, paleontologists use ivory as a way of identifying a species. The gomphotheres of Montbrook have spiral bands of enamel running the length of their tusks. Interestingly, only one group of gomphotheres with this pattern existed at the time, which allowed Bloch and Narducci to identify the species as belonging to the genus Rhyncotherium.

“A fossil site in southern California is the only other place in the US to yield large samples of Rhynchotherium juveniles and adults. We have learned a lot about the anatomy and biology of this group that we did not know before, including new facts about the shape of its skull and tusks.” said Bloch.

The discovery at Montbrook offers exciting prospects for future research and provides an opportunity to learn more about the large animals that roamed North America long ago.

“The best part was sharing this discovery process with so many volunteers from across the state of Florida. Our goal was to assemble this gigantic skeleton and put it on display, taking its place alongside the iconic mammoths and mastodons already in the Florida Natural History Museum,” said Bloch.

Watch Video “Ancient Elephant Ivory Fossil Found, 2.5 Meters Long“

(rns/afr)