Call number: LD2668 .T4 1933 M61

No description available.

"Something Under the Covers" is a factual report of the discovery of a prehistoric mammoth on a farm near Fairmount, Indiana, in the spring of 1904. It describes the circumstances of its excavation and subsequent purchase and shipment to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.The project required intensive research into the documents of the time and interviews with historians and paleontologists to ensure accuracy. Onsite observations and personal conversations were utilized to provide specific details to evoke the places and people involved in the piece.These are the techniques of "literary journalists" who manage to inform and engage their readers by embellishing factual information with the age-old devices of the storyteller. The creative project selects a historical event to demonstrate these techniques. If it is successful, the reader will be entertained and enlightened by "Something Under the Covers." / Department of Journalism

The molecular components of life (i.e., biomolecules such as DNA, proteins, lipids) have the potential to preserve in animals that have been extinct for millions of years, offering a scale of analysis previously inaccessible from the fossil record. As new technology (e.g., high resolution mass spectrometry) has been incorporated into fossil analyses, researchers have begun to detect biomolecules in terrestrial vertebrates dating back to the Triassic Period (~230 Ma). However, these biomolecules have not been demonstrated to be the biological remains of these ancient animals and may instead be exogenous organic contaminants. Here, I developed a series of analytical techniques to detect and interpret the preservation of the degraded remains of the most common protein in bone, collagen, in terrestrial vertebrates from two time slices that represent the two ends of the preservation spectrum: a "shallow time" study of fossils <150,000 years old from different burial environments (i.e., permafrost, fluvial and hot springs) and a deep time study of dinosaurs (~212 - 66 Ma) from the same burial environment (i.e., fluvial), representing the current limit of the reported protein preservation in the fossil record. Unlike previous studies that have focused on organic extractions to detect biomolecules, I studied intact fossil bones and the rocks they were found in, to understand more about the effect of burial conditions on preservation and potential alternative sources of organic compounds. I found endogenous amino acids (the degradation products of proteins) and lipids in the mammoth bones, although they were already heavily degraded in fluvial environments, even on such short timescales. I also found that there were amino acids and lipids preserved in the dinosaur bones, however tests on the age of the amino acids and the types of lipids present, demonstrate that they are not original to the animals in this study. Therefore, fluvial environments, one of the most common depositional environments preserved in the geologic record, are not conducive to the preservation of proteins on long timescales and researchers should be cautious when using these biomolecules to make interpretations about the biology of ancient animals. / Doctor of Philosophy / An outstanding challenge in the geosciences is understanding how living tissues are altered and preserved when an organism enters the fossil record. Studying the information encapsulated in fossils holds the key to an organism’s journey from death to discovery. Over the last few decades, studies of the taphonomy (i.e, how an organism decays and fossilizes) of extinct organisms have shifted their focus from how animals are preserved to what of the original tissues remain. The preservation of organic molecules (e.g., nucleic acids) over long time scales has raised a number of interesting questions (e.g., the preservation potential of DNA) and has been met with equal shares of optimism and apprehension. But ultimately, the preservation of molecular information has the potential to expand what is currently known about the biology of ancient animals and lead to a better understanding of the processes of fossilization, goals that require an understanding of how organic molecules (biomolecules) are altered over short-term and long-term scales and what organic compounds have persisted over the organism’s journey from death to discovery. Considering burial context is critical in determining if the biomolecules (i.e., DNA, proteins and lipids) being detected in fossils are the biological remains of ancient animals or organic contaminants from other sources. Therefore, I studied terrestrial vertebrates from two different periods of time: the “shallow time” dataset consists of mammoth bones from different burial environments (i.e., permafrost, fluvial, hot springs) that are all less than 150,000 years old and the deep time dataset consists of dinosaur bones from the same burial environments (i.e., fluvial) and range from ~212 to 66 million years old. Focusing on the influence of fluvial environments, where the majority of terrestrial vertebrate fossils are found, is key to understanding the long term preservation potential of the most common organic biomolecule in bone, collagen. Researchers have detected biomolecules like amino acids (as far back as the Triassic Period, ~230 million years), that they have linked to collagen preservation, however, no definitive evidence has been found to determine that the biomolecules detected belong to the animal preserved. I studied intact fossil bone to determine what biomolecules are present and if they can be definitively linked to the animal in which they were found. Mammoth bones are preserved on a timeline that is conducive to collagen preservation (<150,000 years) and preserve original amino acids (the degradation products of collagen) and lipids. However, degradation of these biomolecules is already apparent in the bones found in fluvial environments. The dinosaur bones have both amino acids and lipids (as well as other organics, like lignin, which is found in plants) present in the bones that are not present in the rocks where the bones were found. However, tests on the ages of the amino acids indicate that the amino acids are not old enough to be original. Therefore, I have found no evidence of original biomolecules in the dinosaur bones and suggest researchers proceed with caution when attempting to make biological interpretations about ancient animals from biomolecules discovered in fluvial environments, particularly on long (i.e., millions of years) timescales.

The Clovis style point was used by Paleoindians to hunt and kill the proboscidean mammoths and mastodons of the era in the New World. How the Paleoindians specifically used Clovis technology and their hunting strategies are ambiguous. Middle range theory is used in a comparison of ethnographic, archaeological, paleontological, and experimental archaeological evidence. Deductive and inductive reasoning are used in conjunction with this data to develop an interpretive model. This type of study can help to reconstruct a part of the past lifeways of the Clovis Paleoindians. A general model taken from the evidence is presented of Paleoindian proboscidean hunting strategy and the possible design and use of weaponry. However, the majority of the data comes from western Clovis sites associated with Columbian mammoths. A universal or regional based model for Paleoindian proboscidean hunting tactics and weapon design and employment cannot be fully dictated. Creating a model of this type requires an intensively thorough survey of all Clovis archaeological and ancient proboscidean sites. / Department of Anthropology

The Quaternary (the approximately the last 2.6 million years) of North America is a tremendously exciting time period to study with respect to ecology. It saw periods of immense climatic turbidity - the expansion and retreat of continental ice-sheets and large swings in temperature, resulting in the wide scale restructuring of terrestrial ecosystem. It also saw widespread migrations of many species and out of Eurasia, mostly notably of modern humans. Ancient DNA offers powerful tools to examine the relationships and responses of megafunal species to these events, but has largely focused on cold-adapted species, and within radiocarbon-time (i.e. the last 50 thousand years). In this thesis I work to expand our understanding of the genetic landscape of Pleistocene megafuna in three ways. First, I describe the analysis of coprolites from Bechan Cave, Utah and characterize the mammoth inhabitants in the broader context of North American mammoths. Second, I characterize the diversity of American mastodons across the continent and through time, showing that their range likely repeatedly expanded and contracted in response to Pleistocene glaciations. Lastly, I begin to fill in some of the gaps in the American mastodon dataset from chapter 3, and begin to address some of the taxonomic and biogeographic questions about American and Pacific mastodons in Idaho. Understanding how North American megafauna responded to these climatic and anthropogenic stresses may help to explain why so many species went extinct at the end of the last glaciation, and how species may respond to present day warming. However, it is important to include taxa from warmer locales and environments to ensure our models and hypotheses are comprehensive. / Thesis / Doctor of Science (PhD) / Pleistocene North America was a time period of immense climatic turbidity, with temperature swings greater than 15°C in response to the expansion and contraction of continental ice-sheets. Despite these massive swings in temperature, many species managed to thrive on the continent and adapt to glacial-associated ecosystem restructuring. Ancient DNA from Pleistocene megafauna can serve as a very useful tool to answer many questions about the distribution of megafaunal species, and how they may have responded to these climatic events. However, most studies have largely focused on species adapted to cold environments and from the last fifty thousand years. In this thesis I extend our knowledge of the genetic landscape of Pleistocene proboscideans, characterizing the mammoth inhabitants of Bechan Cave, Utah, and producing the first look at American mastodon diversity through space and time. This work increases our representation of warm-adapted specimens and characterizes the effects of glacial cycles on megafauna populations.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--Baylor University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-136).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-67).

Stable isotopes of mammoths and mastodons have the potential to illuminate ecological changes in late Pleistocene landscapes and megafaunal populations as these species approached extinction. The ecological factors at play in this extinction remain unresolved, but isotopes of bone collagen (δ13C, δ15N) and tooth enamel (δ13C, δ18O, 87Sr/86Sr) from midwestern North America are leveraged to examine ecological and behavioral changes that occurred during the last interglacial-glacial cycle. Both species had significant C3 contributions to their diets and experienced increasing levels of niche overlap as they approached extinction. A subset of mastodons after the last glacial maximum exhibit low δ15N values that may represent expansion into a novel ecological niche, perhaps densely occupied by other herbivores. Stable isotopes from serial and microsampled enamel show increasing seasonality and decreasing temperatures as mammoths transitioned from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e to glacial conditions (MIS 4, MIS 3, MIS 2). Isotopic variability in enamel suggests mobility patterns and life histories have potentially large impacts on the interpretation of their stable isotope ecology. This study further refines the ecology of midwestern mammoths and mastodons demonstrating increasing seasonality and niche overlap as they responded to landscape changes in the final millennia before extinction.