Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)

Want to see an entire skeleton of a Florida mammoth? Underwater paleontologists uncovered this skeleton from the bottom of the Aucilla River in North Central Florida. Standing over 12 feet tall at the shoulder, this mature male lived during the Ice Age. Collagen taken from its thighbone yielded a radiocarbon date of 16,000 years ago. This is the only articulated mammoth skeleton consisting of real bone in the Southeastern United States. Only the tusks and a few foot bones are not original fossil material.

To see this animal up close, visit Powell Hall at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, Florida. Powell Hall is located near the corner of SW 34th Street and Hull Road on the western edge of campus in the University of Florida Cultural Plaza.

Powell Hall Phone Number 352-846-2000 Powel Hall Web Link http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/public/about/hours.htm

If you want to search for fossils yourself, our guide service offers fossil trips into the Peace River and other areas. We are not affiliated with the Florida Museum of Natural History, but are a private guide service. Trips are by reservation, beginning at 9am until 3pm. We are located in the Ft Myers area, but conduct expeditions in areas that are a reasonable driving distance from Tampa, St Pete, Orlando, Sarasota, Naples or Ft Lauderdale.
For prices and reservations, call (941)368-3252 or toll free:1-800-304-9432
E-mail address is fossilx@earthlink.net

Replica of American mastodon found by Don Serbosek in Aucilla River, Northern Florida. Original resides in Florida Museum of Natural History. Photo by Mark Renz, courtesy of University Press of Florida.