NOT JUST BIG... IT’S MAMMOTH!

In 1978, two fossil hunters working their way cross-country near the Bosque River discovered a large bone protruding out an eroded ravine. The bone was delivered to Baylor University where it was determined to have belonged to a mammoth. An excavation team returned to the site and over the next twenty years later fossil remains of twenty-two different mammoths, most of them juveniles, as well as camel bone fossils and the tooth of a saber-tooth tiger were uncovered. The site is now considered the first and only recorded discovery of a nursery heard of Pleistocene mammoths. Although scientists still can’t be certain, evidence indicates that most of the animals had been trapped in the rising flood waters of the Bosque River and drowned. Rather than occurring during a single catastrophic event, the animals’ deaths happened as a result of several different events over a significant period of time. Investigation of the site, closed to the public until 2009, continues. Today, however, public visitation is encouraged and the site includes a Welcome Center where exhibits explore the evidence brought to light by the discovery of the fossil remains. Visitors may then join scheduled guided tours to the Dig Shelter where fossil remains are on view. Want to explore your inner paleontologist? Sign up for “Excavation Station”, a program designed to give visitors an opportunity to experience excavating replica fossils with staff.