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A 'Mammoth' Discovery In Chelsea

A Chelsea farmer was digging on his property when he encountered a large  piece of bone. He contacted the University of Michigan and a team of paleontologists and researchers uncovered much of the body of what they believe was a 6 to 7 ton Wooly Mammoth that was likely buried there up to 15,000 years ago.

 
 

I spoke to one of the people on the recovery team, Joe El-Adli a graduate student in the Earth and Environmental Sciences department at  U of M.  He explains they uncovered a large part of the Mammoth including the backbone, the vertebrae, a lot of ribs, the skull, both tusks and part of the lower jaw.  He says the Mammoth was likely buried in a pond on the Chelsea farm land by ancient humans who were storing it there with plans to eat it.

 

 
Now that the entire skeleton has been removed, he's not sure what their next step will be.  He says they're working with the land owner and would like to be able to study the site and the bones to find out more information about this animal and how it got there.
 
 

Lisa Barry was a reporter, and host of All Things Considered on 89.1 WEMU.
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