Inform, Entertain, Inspire
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Indiana Sewer Project Unearths Trove Of Mastodon Bones

Barry Roal Carlsen/University of Wisconsin-Madison

SEYMOUR, Ind. (AP) — Workers installing sewer lines across a southern Indiana farm unearthed the fossilized bones of a mastodon that likely stood about 9 feet tall.

The bones include most of a tusk, parts of a skull and a jawbone with teeth. They were recently dug up on a farm in Seymour, about 60 miles south of Indianapolis.

Joe Schepman owns the farm with his family. He says, "It's amazing to think about something this large roaming around this area."

Ron Richards is senior research curator of paleobiology at the Indiana State Museum. He says the mastodon would have stood between 9 and 9½ feet tall.

Richards says the fossil's age will be determined using radiocarbon dating.

If you appreciate this kind of journalism on your local NPR station, please support it by donating at: https://wvpe.thankyou4caring.org/