A discovery on Santa Rosa Island off the California coast has stumped archeologists, historians, and paleontologists. There, they found the fossilized remains of a mammoth. Except, they do not exactly know what type of mammoth it could be.
“It doesn’t fit the profile for the pygmy mammoth or its relatives on the mainland,” said Justin Wilkins, a member of the team that discovered the bones.
What he is referencing too is the two different species of mammoths that have been discovered. The full sized Columbian mammoth inhabited much of the west coast of North America, even stretching as far south as Costa Rica. They could reach a height of 13 feet at the shoulders and weigh as much as 22,000 lbs. At some point, the Columbian mammoth migrated to the Channel Islands around 150,000 years ago. There, they became a lot smaller due to less food, less space, and no predators. Thus, they became the pygmy mammoths.
The pygmy mammoth was a result of insular dwarfism, where the restrictive conditions of the mammoths’ new environment reduced its size. They stood less than 6 ft tall and weighed less than 2,000 lbs, though the numbers have varied in several different studies.
The latest discovery by Wilkins and his team, however, does not entirely match the profile of the native pygmy mammoths. There are two theories.
“This could be a transitional animal,” said Wilkins. “That’s the hope. That’s the golden spike we are looking for.” But then he could an alternative theory, one that could be much more plausible and far less exciting. Wilkins says that it could just be the remains of a young Columbian mammoth that had not yet reached adulthood.
The bones that have been discovered are stumping the archeologists and paleontologists. The skull size is more closely related to the skull of a pygmy mammoth, but still remains too big. But, then again, it’s too small to be a full adult Columbian mammoth. The tusks, which grow throughout the animal’s lifetime, were found to be exceptionally large if the theory of the remains belonging to a young Columbian mammoth are true.
There is still much to uncover, though. The team continues to search for the full, final picture that can either confirm or contradict the theories at hand. Perhaps the best possible answer will be found in the teeth of the animal, but as of now they have yet to discover any.
