Partial Skeleton of an Elk-moose, Cervalces scotti, from Chippewa Lake, Medina County, Ohio

Abstract

A partial skeleton of an elk-moose, Cervalces scotti, was excavated at a depth of about 5 m below the surface near Chippewa Lake, Medina County, OH. A total of 44 bones and bone fragments were recovered from a male animal judged to be between 4.5 and 5.5 years old, based on comparison with Alces americanus and Cervus elaphus. Bone from the Cervalces was radiocarbon dated at 11,695 ± 35 ¹⁴C yr BP. Peaty and calcareous muck from the level of the bone was also collected, and provided information about the freshwater mollusca, pollen, and seeds deposited at about the same time the skeleton was buried. Several long bones display spiral fracturing and gnawing of corticular bone at the epiphyses consistent with scavenging by a large predator.

Keywords:

• Cervalces
• Cervidae
• taphonomy
• Pleistocene
• Ohio
• mollusks
• pollen
• paleo-environment

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Robert C. Glotzhober

Robert C. Glotzhober is Emeritus Curator of Natural History at the Ohio History Connection in Columbus, OH, where he worked for 33 years. Prior to his service there, he spent three years teaching high school biology, and four years as a naturalist for the National Wildlife Federation in Vienna, VA, and at Seven Ponds Nature Center in Dryden, MI. He has a MS in zoology from Michigan State University. In addition to Pleistocene mammals, he has been active in survey and research work on Odonata.

H. Gregory McDonald

Greg McDonald earned his PhD from the University of Toronto in 1987. He has worked for the National Park Service for 23 years and is currently the Senior Curator of Natural History in the Museum Management Program. His research interests include the paleoecology of the Pleistocene megafauna of North and South America, with a primary focus on the extinct ground sloths.