Mastodon (And Other Pleistocene Mammals) Hunting In Nj/tri-State 101

[Suchascenicworld]

Hello!

I am a "newbie" to this forum.,however, yesterday I posted my first finds from Big Brook for Identification and I was incredibly impressed and humbled by the amazing responses. While I know that a number of forums (especially for folks in NJ) involve fauna deriving from the Triassic, Cretaceous, and maybe even the Eocene and Miocene..however, I want to avert the attention to the Pleistocene.

What is there not to love about Ice age mammals? They were so strange and yet so familiar..and towards the end of their days (at least in North America) people actually encountered these critters! Out of all of the extinct giants of the past..we can say with certainty that humans (in North America) either hunted or scavenged large beasts such as mammoths (14 mammoth "kill sites"), mastodons (one very convincing site), extinct bison (numerous sites), giant camels (there are a few) and giant sloths (ditto). Additionally, while there is no solid evidence of large (and extinct) carnivores being present at early North American Archaeological sites (which makes sense on so many levels..but I wont get into it)..it seems incredibly probable that humans at one point or another encountered two types of sabertooth cats (Homotherium and Smilodon), one..or maybe two extinct wolves (including the Dire Wolf), a lanky and probably carnivorous bear (Short Faced Bear) as well as a lion that just so happened to be the biggest cat that has ever lived (American Lion). Having lived and worked in the African bush on several occasions..I can appreciate that.

So, apologies for the rant..However, I want to divert the attention to searching for the remains of these animals in NJ, NY, and eastern PA. This is especially true for the east coasts "Ice age poster child"..the American Mastodon. What is there not to love about a bizarre and hairy proboscidean?! I know that the remains of these critters are rare..and that finding them is often a result of chance encounters..often with heavy machinery. Moreover, I do not want to support the notion that one should be searching for the remains of mastodons (and other ice age mammals) in situ. I am a Taphonomist, and like many of you, I endorse doing some proper science on the remains of these enigmatic creatures.

However, There are areas where fossil hunting is legal..and the remains that do wash out are often out of context and are therefore not very important for proving insight (such as Big Brook). I was born and raised in NJ..however, I have had the amazing opportunity to work at very important sites in East and Southern Africa. As stated, I specialize in the Plio-Pleistocene..and I had always been fascinated (since I was a boy) on the elephant (relatives) that used to live in my neck of the woods. Here are a few questions that I hope the community can answer: I have been curious about this prospect for years and I am looking forward to any encouraging and insightful responses:

1. Have you found mastodon bone or teeth (including cusps) in NJ/NY/Southern PA?

2. if so..how often?

3. Are there any (legal) localities that you are aware of that I should look into in NJ where mastodons can be found (I am not talking about the middle of the ocean!..more like big brook)

4. What do individual mastodon cusps even look like?! This is especially true for stream and brook areas where teeth can become rounded.

5. If you have found cusps..can you post a picture on this specific post so I can gain some insight on what to look for.

Once again, thank you so much for your time!

[non-remanié]

Pleistocene remains are very rare in NJ. There's not really any specific place that you could go and search for just that. Yes, the well-known Cretaceous fossil streams have produced much of the known material that isn't from random construction sites anywhere in the state or dredged from the shelf, but you have to consider the fact that probably 100 or more people can be searching Big Brook and Ramanessin Brook on a nice day in the spring or summer. And the totality of identifiable Pleistocene finds from these sites is no more than a pittance. At most probably one identifiable mastodon find every couple years combined between all those collectors and all that collecting time. Most of the significant pleistocene finds from these steams have been mastodon. I have been lucky enough to make 2 mastodon finds, but its all about having a good eye and being in the right place at the right time. Getting lucky. And I have made 100s of trips to these sites in the last decade and spent well over 1000 hours probably. There's many many miles of stream where this material might turn up, its not just in areas where the Cretaceous fossils are most abundant, like the main well-known areas of Big Brook. I know most of the collectors who have found significant pleistocene material in the past couple decades at these sites. Between them, I know of maybe 2 complete mastodon teeth, vague but somewhat believable rumors of maybe 2 more (partial or not), and knowledge of a couple other pieces or partials or isolated cusps. Sorry for the bad news and good luck on your search, but don't get your hopes up searching in the Big Brook area.

[Carl]

In 26 years of collecting in Big Brook I have found 2 small fragments of mastodon teeth, a complete Pleistocene horse tooth, a Pleistocene shrew humerus, and at Ramanessin Brook (in which I have collected for about 22 years) a fragment of a palmate antler, which would be moose, caribou, or "elk-moose": all Pleistocene if found in NJ. I have many other teeth and bones that are of taxa that are still in NJ so telling if they are modern or Ice Age could prove difficult. Since they are so rare, any legal collecting creek could be a likely source. But aiming for any one spot won't likely be of any benefit. To learn what fragments of mastodon teeth would look like just study the whole teeth minutely and try to retain all those contours.

[Suchascenicworld]

I greatly appreciate the information. While I know this is unlikely...IS there a certain area in Big Brook that you believe would be preferable for obtaining Ice age material? I usually park on boundary road and head a bit further downstream . That is where I found the large sub-fossil long bone frag and the ammonite. Did you find the cusps in the water? as in..mixed in with the rest of the fossils/rocks in the brook?

and one more (huge!) question..could you please post a picture or two of the cusps that you found so I can get an idea on what they look like?

[Auspex]

My understanding is that you may not dig into the consolidated bed or banks at Big Brook, meaning that all legally collected fossils will be loose float.

[Carl]

All I can really suggest is to get as far away from the bridges as possible only because areas farther away are less hammered by collectors. However, the hammering near the bridges is primarily newbees anyway who wouldn't likely recognize a beat up mastodon crumb. Attached is a shot of my better fragment (the other is just a small fragment of enamel). The scale is in millimeters. I found both fragments as float.

[Alfatherium]

Glenn Harbour with NJ Mastodon remains

http://archive.app.com/article/20130410/NJNEWS/304100097/Holmdel%20fossil%20mastodon

He eventually found a baby so well preserved that they were able to tell it died from Pachyderm Turberculosis

[RickNC]

I have one found mastodon tooth with cusps and a few smaller tooth fragments but that is down here in NC. And I love the mammal fossils.

[jpevahouse]

I live in NJ and my interest is in early mammals, particularly Pliestocene era fauna. NJ is not a good place for any fossils passed the Cretaceous era. There have been a hand full of notable mastodon finds on land, three or four skeletons from boggs. However, random surface finds by collectors are very rare. Commerical scallop and clam fishing boats occasionally dredge bones and teeth from the Atlantic ocean offshore. I had one mastodon molar found by a scub diver off shore NJ.

The last great ice sheet extended about half way into NJ 22,000 years ago but never reached the southern half of the state. All of the mastodon remains which have been dated lived about 12,500 years ago after the ice sheet retreated north. The post glacial NJ environment must have attracted only a few species of animals because most of late ice age animals like bison, horses, paleocamels, etc common in other areas do not appear in the fossil record here. There are a few questionable finds but overall it's fair to say the post ice age fauna of NJ was limited.

Pliestocene fossils seem to grow on trees in Florida but are rare here.

[jpevahouse]

Glenn Harbour with NJ Mastodon remains

http://archive.app.com/article/20130410/NJNEWS/304100097/Holmdel%20fossil%20mastodon

He eventually found a baby so well preserved that they were able to tell it died from Pachyderm Turberculosis

The juvenile mastodon skull found by Glenn is on display on the first floor of the NJ State Museum. It's about 60 percent complete with two molars and a section of tusk. When I first saw the fossil at the museum it seemed obvious the unfortunate animal died of disease. His find is very, very rare for any state. Juvenile mastodon skulls are exceptionally rare.

[Carl]

I live in NJ and my interest is in early mammals, particularly Pliestocene era fauna. NJ is not a good place for any fossils passed the Cretaceous era. There have been a hand full of notable mastodon finds on land, three or four skeletons from boggs. However, random surface finds by collectors are very rare. Commerical scallop and clam fishing boats occasionally dredge bones and teeth from the Atlantic ocean offshore. I had one mastodon molar found by a scub diver off shore NJ.

The last great ice sheet extended about half way into NJ 22,000 years ago but never reached the southern half of the state. All of the mastodon remains which have been dated lived about 12,500 years ago after the ice sheet retreated north. The post glacial NJ environment must have attracted only a few species of animals because most of late ice age animals like bison, horses, paleocamels, etc common in other areas do not appear in the fossil record here. There are a few questionable finds but overall it's fair to say the post ice age fauna of NJ was limited.

Pliestocene fossils seem to grow on trees in Florida but are rare here.

NJ is actually a great place for post-Cretaceous shark teeth and other goodies if you know where to look!

[jpevahouse]

Unfortunately sharks teeth are low on my list of interests, early mammals being on the top of the list. If it was the other way around I'd definitely be in the right place.