[BCMA] Megafauna in Collections

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

Hello all,

Does your museum have ice age animal bones, teeth, or tusks in its collection? If so, the British Columbia Megafauna Project wants to hear from you!

We are sampling ice age animals found in British Columbia. These may include: mammoth, mastodon, short-faced bear, yesterday’s camel, steppe bison, elk, caribou, horse, ground sloth, scimitar-toothed cat, mountain goat, flat-headed peccary, grey wolf, dire wolf, giant beaver, arctic ground squirrel etc. These animals can hide in collections. For example, we have seen mammoth remains accessioned as ‘elephant’, ‘ivory’ and ‘Proboscidean’.

If you are lucky enough to house an ice age animal, we will need to know where the samples of bones, teeth, tusks were found, to within ~100 km.

Based at Simon Fraser University, we are a research group looking to partner with museums to help enhance collection information by radiocarbon dating and conducting isotope analysis to better understand the Late Pleistocene in British Columbia.

Our goal is to know when these animals lived (from radiocarbon dating), information on their health and age (from the bones), composition of their diet, and how and where they moved across ice age British Columbia (using isotope analysis).

Perhaps results from these hidden gems in your collection will help create exciting new exhibits. All results will be shared with participants, and participants will be gratefully acknowledged in SFU Megafauna Project PhD research.

Check out our website to find updates, and to see which museums are already involved in the Megafauna Project https://www.sfu.ca/megafauna.html

For questions, more information, or to discuss collection specimens, please contact me, laura_termes at sfu.ca, or the SFU Archaeology Isotope Laboratory at 778-782-5045.

Thank you,

Laura


Laura Termes
PhD Student

Department of Archaeology
Simon Fraser University

laura_termes at sfu.ca

https://www.sfu.ca/megafauna.html
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