Speaker May 26 Dr. Tim King -- Castroville Mammoth Find

Dr Kin will be talking to the club about the Castroville Mammoth Project - In December 2010, the remains of an Ice Age Mammoth (a larger relative of the popular Woolly Mammoth, known as the Columbian Mammoth [Mammuthus columbi]) were found on an artichoke farm in Castroville, CA. For the past 3 months, a team of scholars and students from a number of California colleges and universities have undertaken the excavation and analysis of this amazing creature, under the guidance of Project Director Mark Hylkema (Foothill College). This is the first mammoth formally recovered from Monterey County - an adult male, late-20's to early 30's, it died at the edge of a muddy marsh during the end of the last Ice Age. In this talk, Dr. King will address the nature of mammoths, the environment and life of this specimen, and the details of the project excavation - including the discovery of what may be the first known recovery of Columbian Mammoth hair.