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Gomphothere Kill-Site Found in Sonoran Desert
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:43 am
by Minimalist
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... beast.html
MEXICO CITY - Scientists have found evidence that cavemen near the Arizona-Mexico border were butchering gomphotheres, an elephant-like beast with a crocodilelike snout that was believed to be nearly extinct in North America by the time humans appeared there.
Researchers from the University of Arizona and Mexico's anthropology institute say they found the bones of two young gomphotheres, along with blades, a scraping tool and stone chips from making spear tips, at an 11,000-year-old ice-age encampment between Caborca and Hermosillo in Sonora.
The finding adds fuel to a debate over whether humans helped drive prehistoric animals such as mastodons, North American horses and gomphotheres into extinction, said Vance Holliday, a University of Arizona archaeologist on the team.
Apparently reports of their extinction were "premature."
Re: Gomphothere Kill-Site Found in Sonoran Desert
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:37 am
by JSteen
LOL.
This is kinda cool. Now I want to read a novel set in those times that includes a gomphothere hunt. Elephant-crocodile? That sounds fearsome. I wonder how big they got.
Re: Gomphothere Kill-Site Found in Sonoran Desert
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:15 pm
by Rokcet Scientist
Minimalist wrote:Apparently reports of their extinction were "premature."
Whose extinction...?
Anyway, how do you even pronounce g o m p h o t h e r e ?
Re: Gomphothere Kill-Site Found in Sonoran Desert
Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:41 am
by kbs2244
Other than over all size, it looks to me like the only difference is the length of the lower lip.
Maybe the lower jaw bone to support the lip.
Why would they go extinct?
Re: Gomphothere Kill-Site Found in Sonoran Desert
Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:35 am
by Minimalist
Why does any species go extinct? Probably a combination of events including climate change.
Re: Gomphothere Kill-Site Found in Sonoran Desert
Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 8:04 pm
by E.P. Grondine
Minimalist wrote:Why does any species go extinct? Probably a combination of events including climate change.
don't forget impact events, Min.
According to Shawnee tradition, it appears multiple large comet fragments hit at locations spread over a large area
E.P. Grondine
Man and Impact in the Americas
Re: Gomphothere Kill-Site Found in Sonoran Desert
Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 8:07 pm
by Minimalist
I was saving that for you, E.P.
Re: Gomphothere Kill-Site Found in Sonoran Desert
Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:14 pm
by Rokcet Scientist
E.P. Grondine wrote:Minimalist wrote:According to Shawnee tradition, it appears multiple large comet fragments hit at locations spread over a large area
When and where precisely?
Supporting evidence?