Mammoth Molars

I was watching "American Pickers" this morning on the DVR and they had a guy they were buying from who had collected fossils from the nearby river in New Orleans.  One was a fossilized mammoth tooth, and when he held it up I thought to myself, Yup! Recognize that one!  If you're interested in watching the episode, it was "5 Acres of Junk" from Season One.  When we were in South Dakota we visited Mammoth Site and the drive to Hot Springs from Custer to visit South Dakota is definitely worth the trip. 

The tour starts off with a video that explains how the Karst Sinkhole trapped animals who came down for a drink and ended up taking a deadly swim instead. Enticed by the warm water and pond vegetation, the mammoths entered the pond to eat, drink or bathe and then could not escape. The mammoths were unable to find a foothold to scale the steep shale banks. Trapped in the pit, the mammoths ultimately died of starvation, exhaustion, or drowning. To date 60 mammoths (57 Columbian and 3 woolly) have been discovered as well as 85 other species of animals, plants, and several unidentified insects. 

For centuries the bones lay buried, until discovered by chance in 1974 while excavating for a housing development, earth moving equipment exposed South Dakota's greatest fossil treasure.
Fortunately, through the work of local citizens, the Mammoth Site was preserved. Today it is the world's largest Columbian mammoth exhibit, and a world-renown research center for Pleistocene studies.  It is an active site, and it was so cool looking at all the fossils "in situ", as well as the tools workers left laying around.

I won't spoil it for everyone else by saying too much, but this is one museum I enjoyed IMMENSELY!  If you're passing through South Dakota make sure to stop for an hour.