RAPID: The Snowmastodon Project

Denver Museum Of Nature And Science, Denver CO

Investigators

Abstract

The recent discovery on Oct. 14, 2010, of exceptionally preserved plant and large mammal fossils at Zeigler Reservoir near Snowmass Village, Colorado provides a brief opportunity to study an amazingly well-preserved, sequence of high-elevation Ice Age ecosystems. In 18 days (Oct. 29 to Nov. 17, 2010), the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) excavated more than 600 bones comprising parts of 8- 10 American mastodons, 4 Columbian mammoths, 4 Ice Age bison, 2 deer, 1 Jefferson?s ground sloth (the first record in Colorado and the highest altitude record in North America), multiple Tiger salamanders, and exceptionally preserved plant, insect and aquatic invertebrate fossils. As a whole, the site represents the first relatively complete sequence of lacustrine Pleistocene ecosystems at high elevation in the Rocky Mountains. A number of key research questions and opportunities have emerged: 1) What does this site tell us about high elevation Pleistocene climate and biota in the Ice Age Rockies? 2) What is the geochronology of the site? 3) What is the detailed history of lake in-filling? 4) What were the life histories of the site?s mammoths and mastodons? 5) Given the large number of specimens, can we undertake metapopulation analyses of the bison, mammoth, and mastodon? And 6) what is the relevance of this Rocky Mountain climate and biotic record to present-day issues of climate change? To answer these over-arching questions and other more specific questions, we have assembled a team of 32 scientists from 15 institutions organized into six groups to undertake a comprehensive multidisciplinary study of the Ziegler Reservoir fossil lake. These groups are: 1) regional and local geology; 2) stratigraphy; 3) geochronology; 4) fossil vertebrates; 5) fossil plants; and 6) fossil invertebrates. Using this approach, we are designing a plan to: 1) excavate the remaining fossil resources from the dam site in May-June, 2011, before the site is buried by planned dam construction in July-September; 2) implement a comprehensive scientific research plan to study and understand this site; 3) preserve and conserve the fossils from the site; and 4) to use the results of this discovery provide world-class educational opportunities to local, regional, national, and international audiences. DMNS is planning an comprehensive media and documentary plan for the 2011 excavation and DMNS educators will return to the Roaring Fork Valley in Spring 2011 to provide free education programs for K-12 students in all of the Roaring Fork Valley schools, including in-school assembly programs, distance learning programs, teacher professional development programs, and early childhood education resources available on www.dmns.org. This grant will partially fund the fieldwork portion of 2011 activities.