Jump to content

Mastodon hunting in my home town


dinosaur man

Recommended Posts

Today I was trying to learn more about Mammoths and Mastodons found in Southern Ontario because of my spearhead in my other topic that my grandpa gave me, and also I don’t really have much Cenozoic fossils in my collection.  So when I was looking I found a page made by the University of Waterloo which is about 5 hours from my home town, and it had a page about Mammoths and Mastodons of southern Ontario, it also had a map out of all the finds from these animals in Southern Ontario.  So I looked and surprisingly there where two sites just North of my hometown of Dunnville, which where both about 12 minutes from my house.  I found the location odd because mostly every rock in my area is Devonian and Silurian, but that area is an exception.  So in that area North of Dunnville in 1869 and 1911 two Mastodon skeletons where found, so sometime this Month I’m going to see what I can find in those places, as they haven’t been touched in for 100 years because of all the fossils hunting is done in the fossil filled Devonian and Silurian deposits of Dunnville.  I will post what I find there, and below is a link to that website and a photo of a description of one of the specimens from 1869.

 

The website

https://uwaterloo.ca/earth-sciences-museum/resources/ice-age-mammals/mastodons-and-mammoths

 

The photo of the description of one of the specimens.

0369B7F7-F6BA-478D-8EF1-E2A1BD129893.jpeg

D92F0F8E-C0AE-440E-A24B-BFAE0ABAF18D.jpeg

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wish you luck in your quest, and do keep us posted!

  • I found this Informative 1

Dipleurawhisperer5.jpg          MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png

I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Darktooth said:

I wish you luck in your quest, and do keep us posted!

Thank you and I will definitely!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They'll be largely restricted to lake and wetland sediments mostly, marl being chief among these because it preserves the bone better. 

  • I found this Informative 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

They'll be largely restricted to lake and wetland sediments mostly, marl being chief among these because it preserves the bone better. 

Thank you for the help!

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing I know for sure - you won't find it if you don't look for it.  So - Go for it and best of luck!  Who knows what you will find, but I'm sure it will be a fun trip and you will come home with something.  Wish I could be there to go with you; sounds like a fun adventure!

 

BTW, good work in research!

  • I found this Informative 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to live in Etobicoke until 2017. When I lived there, the moment I got to Grade 12 and college, I decided to go and visit the Don Valley Brickworks in the eastern part of downtown Toronto. There have been reports of mammalian bones being found from the Pleistocene period when the Don Valley Brickworks was still a working quarry and mill back in the 1st half of the 20th century. 

I also visited the Scarborough Bluffs in Scarborough during the same time period because I heard reports of mammal bones being found there too. I believe the sands of the Bluffs is the same glacial deposits that is present in the Don Valley Brickworks. 

Cant wait to hear what you would find on your journey. 

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, grandpa said:

One thing I know for sure - you won't find it if you don't look for it.  So - Go for it and best of luck!  Who knows what you will find, but I'm sure it will be a fun trip and you will come home with something.  Wish I could be there to go with you; sounds like a fun adventure!

 

BTW, good work in research!

 

2 hours ago, JUAN EMMANUEL said:

I used to live in Etobicoke until 2017. When I lived there, the moment I got to Grade 12 and college, I decided to go and visit the Don Valley Brickworks in the eastern part of downtown Toronto. There have been reports of mammalian bones being found from the Pleistocene period when the Don Valley Brickworks was still a working quarry and mill back in the 1st half of the 20th century. 

I also visited the Scarborough Bluffs in Scarborough during the same time period because I heard reports of mammal bones being found there too. I believe the sands of the Bluffs is the same glacial deposits that is present in the Don Valley Brickworks. 

Cant wait to hear what you would find on your journey. 

Thank you both!  And sounds cool @JUAN EMMANUEL!

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Certainly get your hands on as much quaternary geology and surficial maps as you can. Check GeoScan and Ministry of Dev & Mines. 

 

Where you are, there should be some evidence of Sangamon stage events. Plus, the learning opportunities abound in discovering all about eskers, moraines, drumlins, glaciolacustrine deposits... Oh my! Much of that shapes the lumps and bumps in the landscape all around you. :thumbsu: 

  • I found this Informative 2

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Kane said:

Certainly get your hands on as much quaternary geology and surficial maps as you can. Check GeoScan and Ministry of Dev & Mines. 

 

Where you are, there should be some evidence of Sangamon stage events. Plus, the learning opportunities abound in discovering all about eskers, moraines, drumlins, glaciolacustrine deposits... Oh my! Much of that shapes the lumps and bumps in the landscape all around you. :thumbsu: 

Yeah!  And I will try to get some maps. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not sure if you have this already, but this detailed map of Dunnville may help direct your search (at least for fossils in general). It points out a lot of the outcrops. I'm not sure of the age of this map, so maybe some of the spots are no more. 

 

https://brocku.ca/library/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/MDG-P2402.pdf

  • I found this Informative 1

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
On 2020-05-16 at 9:44 AM, Kane said:

I'm not sure if you have this already, but this detailed map of Dunnville may help direct your search (at least for fossils in general). It points out a lot of the outcrops. I'm not sure of the age of this map, so maybe some of the spots are no more. 

 

https://brocku.ca/library/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/MDG-P2402.pdf

Thank you!  I do not have this map yet!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your ever down in South Dakota stop by the mammoth site in Hot Springs. A really neat place to spend a day. Good luck on your search.

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2020-06-06 at 12:20 PM, henpecked said:

If your ever down in South Dakota stop by the mammoth site in Hot Springs. A really neat place to spend a day. Good luck on your search.

Thank you!  And I’ll make sure too :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I’ve been a little busy, but I finally got around to check the site and so far found some bone fragments!  I’ll post them tomorrow.  Here’s a kind of blurry photo I took when I was at one of the spots.

DF93AE67-C92F-4A35-8C61-14119636BE07.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Familyroadtrip said:

Cool! 

Yeah!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Best of luck on future quests and explorations of this area. That is fantastic that you came away with some bone fragments. I am looking forward to seeing them.

  • I found this Informative 1

: )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here’s the bone fragments, there not much at all, and are really small, but I collected them to show that there’s still fossils there even after 109 years!  Since it was last searched for fossils.  And that now I know this could be a good site! (Sorry If it’s blurry it’s because it’s small)

F8342C6E-868F-4F94-AE0F-2391A1DCA942.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think we can verify if these are bone fragments with this image.

  • I found this Informative 2

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Kane said:

I don't think we can verify if these are bone fragments with this image.

Yeah, sorry about the photos I’m going to try to get better photos but it’s small and my phone is old so it will be tricky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would save up for a new camera, or borrow one, before posting more photos. 

  • I found this Informative 2

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...