Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Elasmotherium Skull Pocked with Iron



























Jon H is at it again! Visiting the Natural History Museum in London he found a late Pleistocene Elasmotherium skull (cross between a rhino and a horse) from Siberia. It was completely peppered with tiny magnetic metallic pellets! Just like the mammoth tusks found earlier. I wonder if this sort of evidence of an ice age apocalypse is lying around lots of museums, but no one has thought of looking for it before.

In the close up photo you can see the pellet impacts with little rust rings around them. The largest, just to the left of center is about 1cm across. The other picture gives you an idea of the structure and size of the skull. Man ,that must have hurt - although just the beginning of what was an undoubtedly rough patch for mega fauna.