DemonTengu
Evil One
Posts: 342
(6/20/04 12:24 pm)
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How to get a head in Paleontology
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3413773.stm
Complete mammoth skull unearthed
A complete mammoth skull has been
unearthed in southern England, only
the second to be found in Britain.
The specimen was discovered in a
gravel pit in the Cotswolds and is
estimated to be about 50,000 years old.
The only other complete specimen
found in the UK is displayed in the
Natural History Museum in London.
Scientists will attempt to date the
mammoth skull using radiocarbon
methods and will also use it to study
the evolutionary history of mammoths.
The skull was found on Sunday 11
January by Dr Neville Hollingworth, a
palaeontologist who works at the
Natural Environment Research Council,
and Dr Mark O'Dell, of science firm
QinetiQ.
At about 1030 GMT on Sunday, Dr Hollingworth spotted a small piece of
bone sticking out from a gully and then he and Dr O'Dell dug the specimen up
together.
'Amazing'
"It was beautifully preserved, almost as if it died yesterday," said Dr
Hollingworth.
"It was quite amazing, we didn't expect to find anything like this. All I saw was
a small piece of bone sticking out at the side of this clay face which had gravel
in it.
"We started to dig and it got bigger and bigger and bigger. And after about 10
minutes of digging we realised that we had something a little bit more than
just a bone fragment.
It took them nearly four hours to dig
out the complete mammoth skull.
"It was a superhuman effort. At times I
never thought we were going to get the
thing out," said Dr O'Dell.
"I think if we'd waited another day, we
would have lost it. Fortunately for us
the rains had stopped the [heavy
diggers]."
Dr Adrian Lister, a mammoth expert
from University College London, has
carried out a preliminary analysis of the
skull.
The mammoth was an elderly female between 25 and 40 years old, which
probably weighed between four and five tonnes.
The tusks, which would have been up to 2.4m (eight feet) long, were missing
from the skull and the experts now plan to look for these in the quarry, which
is currently flooded due to rain.
The scientists were able to "age" the mammoth from its teeth. Mammoths
went through six sets of teeth as they got older and they increased in size as
the animals aged.
Dr Hollingworth said he thought the excellent preservation of the skull
suggested the mammoth could have died in a flood.
Comparing the new skull with the one on display in the Natural History
Museum may give scientists information about the evolutionary history of
this species.
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