Purdue Fort Wayne welcomed mastodon bones discovered in Angola 50 years ago back to the campus for a permanent display in the Walb Student Union.
What's the difference between a Mastodon and a Mammoth?
- Time. Mastodons first appeared about 27-30 million years ago, while mammoths first appeared about 5 million years ago.
- Diet. Mammoths, like modern elephants, had ridged teeth they used to grind things like grass. Mastodons had more pointed teeth meant for crushing, which scientists believe means they were likely browsers, eating shrubs, trees and foliage.
- Build. While mammoths were long-legged and sort of lanky, mastodons were built shorter and stouter.
- Ancestors. Mastodons are different enough from any living elephant that they're considered fully extinct. Mammoths are in the elephant family.
Donna, as she’s been named, was discovered in 1968 on a farm just south of Angola. The bones lived on the campus, in one form or another, until 2016, when they were sent to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to be studied.
Now, she sits in a custom-made glass case against one of the walls inside the Walb Student Union, where students, teachers and visitors can walk by every day.
Geology professor James Farlow said the discovery of the mastodon came around the same time the geology department was established and that she was a unique find, because she wasn’t alone in her bog.
“The skull of a much smaller individual was found, so we speculate, but we do not know, that might have been a calf," he said.
Originally named Don, Donna was discovered to be a female during her time at U of M, as well as that she had given birth and was about 20 years old when she died. The calf skull they found is named Edgar, though they don’t know its actual sex.
In 1969, a year after Donna's discovery, students at PFW voted in favor of making the mastodon the school's mascot.
In a letter to the school newspaper, the Communicator, in 1968, student body president Steve Pettyjohn wrote in favor of naming the mastodon the school mascot; "Let's have the courage to be a little different."
The Bronze Mastodon
Outside of the Walb Student Union, situation in the center of the campus, is a two-thirds size bronze statue of a mastodon. It was installed to celebrate the university's 40th anniversary in 2004. Farlow also helped in the creation of that model.
Farlow said he went around the country measuring mastodon skeletons to get an idea of proportions.
"I looked at modern elephants to see details of the skin, the eye, the ears, and all that kind of stuff," Farlow said. "I talked with zookeepers and so forth."
He worked with the same company that mounted the skeleton in the student union, Research Castings International, to design the life-like statue.
3D Modeling
For a closer look at the juvenile mastodon Edgar's skull, you'll soon be able to find a digital 3D model on Purdue Fort Wayne's Helmke library website.
Using a hand-held high-end 3D scanner available in the library, library staff scanned the fossil so it will be available online and, eventually, as a print.
Erika Mann director of library technology and digital initiatives said eventually they'd like to try and get Donna's entire skeleton scanned.
"We know that when this was in Michigan they scanned most of the bones, but there are a few of the ribs that didn't get scanned," Mann said. "So, possibly we'd be able to do that so they can 3D print a recreation of the skeleton."
Pending Pachyderm Legislation
Earlier this month, legislation to officially name the mastodon as the national fossil unanimously passed the Senate and will move to the House. The bill was co-sponsored by Senator Mike Braun and Senator Gary Peters (D-MI).
The legislation, called the National Fossil Act, looks to highlight the importance of the mastodon to American natural history and celebrate discoveries of the species throughout the country.
The bill still needs to pass the house.
