The
Clapp Family
Mastodon
Discovered in Kent City, Michigan by a crew working on a drainage project, this remarkably 70% intact juvenile Mastodon was generously donated to the GRPM by the Clapp Family.Â
Discovery and Preservation
Crews from Busscher Construction uncovered bones and reached out to the GRPM and the University of Michigan for confirmation on the find. Shortly thereafter, the mastodon bones were excavated by a team of GRPM and University of Michigan staff led by the GRPM’s Science Curator, Dr. Cory Redman.
For a year and a half, the bones dried in the Museum’s Collections. With partners at the University of Michigan’s Museum of Paleontology, the Museum has studied and conserved the bones. They also brought in a team from Research Casting International to scan each bone individually with incredible detail for 3-D printing. The 3-D printed bones will be arranged into a complete, articulated skeleton, leaving the real bones protected for further study.
About the Mastodon
The mastodon (Mammut americanum) is remarkably complete, with around 130 bones recovered. We can tell it was a young male, around 10 years old, when it died around 13,210 years ago. We can also tell that the area it was found in was a spruce-oak dominated forest along the margin of a glacial lake.
Mastodons were 7-10 feet tall, weighing 8,000-12,000 pounds, and were only found in North America. The herbivores went extinct around 12,000 years ago.
About the Clapp Family
The Clapp Family Mastodon gets its name from donors/landowners Courtney and Michael Clapp, who generously donated the skeleton to the Museum, so it can be enjoyed by as many West Michiganers as possible, preserved for study, and still stay close to home.
