What's going on in the UI Paleontology Repository? Check out our latest news, projects, collection discoveries, and day-to-day activities behind-the-scenes.
More Mastodon! Wayne County Excavations by OSA
In August 2024, the Office of the State Archaeologist excavated the partial skeleton of a mastodon in Wayne County, Iowa. Nicknamed "Dolly," the mastodon's skull and postcranial bones will be displayed at the Prairie Trails Museum in Corydon, IA. First, the bones must be cleaned, conserved and rehoused, and the skull freed from its surrounding clay block. Check the links below to find out how the Paleontology Repository is helping.
Iowa Stories: Undergrads play key role in preserving mastodon bones April 17, 2025
Iowa Public Radio: Mastodon skull offers glimpse of Iowa 13,000 years ago February 13, 2025.
Iowa Now: Unearthing mastodon bones in southern Iowa August 16, 2024.
Florence Reef Mastodon Discovery, Donation and Conservation
On Friday May 20th, the USACE Omaha District Contractor on the Florence Reef Excavation project to ensure continued use of the Missouri River navigation channel excavated the lower jaw of a mastodon from a clay layer in between limestone outcroppings. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources was identified as having responsibility for the mastodon jaw and other pieces retrieved (an antler, vertebra and tusk fragment), and donated the finds to the UI Paleontology Repository in June 2022.
Check out conservation progress with undergraduate intern Evelyn Gonzalez.
A Moldy Situation (Pt.1) posted 8/2/22
Mold! Pt. 2