A 100-acre stretch of land in Waco, Texas has come to be known as somewhat of a mammoth hub.
With the remains of at least 23 of these late-Pleistocene beasts found at the site, Waco holds what’s thought to be the only known fossil nursery of a herd of Columbian mammoths in the US.
But, an isotope study on a 67,000-year-old mammoth tooth now suggests the giant mammals may once have grazed in a region near modern-day Austin – over 120 miles away.
With the remains of at least 23 of these late-Pleistocene beasts found at the site, Waco holds what’s thought to be the only known fossil nursery of a herd of Columbian mammoths in the US. Remains of a juvenile mammoth at Waco are pictured above
The ‘unexpected’ find could shed new light on the behaviour of the creatures that once roamed the region, helping scientists to better understand how they lived, and if they truly traveled as a unified herd, according to Live Science.
In new research presented at the 2017 Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting, a team led by Don Esker of Baylor University revealed the nutrients in the mammoth tooth indicate it was eating grasses from soil outside of Waco.
Based on the presence of carbon 4, the researchers say the mammoths in Texas primarily ate grasses and sedges, along with other types of vegetation.
But, the strontium isotopes indicate that much of the grass they consumed came from ‘granite-derived soil,’ Esker told Live Science.
This type of soil could be found not in Waco, but in an area just west of Austin.
According to the researcher, the discovery comes as a surprise, considering the concentration of these extinct beasts discovered at the Waco site.
Based on the presence of carbon 4, the researchers say the mammoths in Texas primarily ate grasses and sedges, along with other types of vegetation. But, the strontium isotopes indicate that much of the grass they consumed came from granite-derived soil,’ Esker told Live Science
The first of the bones were discovered in a ravine in 1978.
In the years to follow, researchers unearthed the remains of roughly two dozen Columbian mammoths.
At the same site, they also found the bones of several other Ice Age animals, including the remains of a Western camel, dwarf antelope, American alligator, giant tortoise, and the tooth of a juvenile saber-toothed cat.
In July 2015, the Waco Mammoth Site became recognized by then-President Barack Obama as a national monument.
Waco sits more than 120 miles from the site near Austin, where the researchers now suspect these mammoths grazed.
This type of soil could be found not in Waco, but in an area just west of Austin. According to the researcher, the discovery comes as a surprise. The purple region in the map above shows the area that matched the strontium in the tooth
With additional studies on teeth from other mammoths, the team hopes to find out more about the herd that once roamed the region.
While it’s thought that these beasts traveled as a group, this idea has yet to be confirmed.
And, they may not have arrived to Waco as early as researchers previously suspected.
‘They really weren’t in the Waco area until right before they died, which is a little unexpected,’ Esker told Live Science at the conference.
‘Two hundred kilometers is within the largest distance that we’ve known Columbian mammoths to travel, but only just.’