The
Rustler Ranch
Mastodon Project
| The Oakland Museum of California science preparation staff prepared the mastodon skeleton and made a casting of the skeleton to put on permanent display in the Natural Sciences Gallery when the gallery is renovated. While the work was in progress, the work was visible from the gallery. With the work complete, the skeleton has been returned to the owner and the cast stored until installation. |  |
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| Who? | When? | Where? |
Dig site at Rustler Ranch
This mastodon lived in northeastern California on the Modoc Plateau, a
volcanic region east of Mount Shasta. The fossil was found on the Rustler
Ranch in Modoc County.
Who
found it?
This
specimen was discovered in 1997 by Eric Pedersen, a ranch hand, while
working on the Rustler Ranch. He found a portion of a tooth emerging from
a stream bank and thought he had found an arrowhead. Upon digging the
tooth out he realized this was something bigger. Fortunately, the ranch
owner, Roger Fiddler, was fascinated by the discovery. Suspecting the
significance of this find, he invited a paleontologist (a scientist who
studies fossils) to visit the ranch to identify it. Upon removing the
top layer of soil, they discovered a nearly intact mastodon skeleton in
the exact position in which it died, lying on its side. The only parts
missing were the tusks, which were probably eroded away by the nearby
stream.
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The
skeleton as it lay during excavation.
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Paleontologist,
Bruce Hanson, points to the ash layer in the matrix.
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Roger Fiddler contacted the Natural Sciences Department at the Oakland Museum of California to seek assistance in excavating the mastodon from the ranch. He wanted it preserved, studied and made available to the public. Six science department staff joined Roger and his family at the site and within eight days had the entire skeleton excavated from the ground and carefully placed on a flatbed truck for transport to the museum.
When
did this mastodon die?
It is often difficult to directly determine the age of fossilized bones.
One method is to examine the matrix, or ground, from which it was extracted.
Through a process called potassium-argon dating, we will try to determine
the age of the volcanic ash layer underlying this skeleton.
Where
did it die?
Pieces of vegetation found in the matrix suggest that it may have died
in a lake or wetland area, as does the lack of scattering of the bones
by predators. Study of possible fish bones and diatoms in the matrix may
confirm the lake-bed hypothesis.
The specimen showing its position in the sediment.