Right: When living, "Joseph" prob- 

 ably looked like this artist's recon- 

 struction of a Mastodon. (From a 

 painting by Charles R. Knight in 

 Hall 38, Fossil Vertebrates.) 



Below: AiUhor cleans one of the mo- 

 lars which probably troubled "Joseph" 

 during his life. Shown is the roof of 

 the mastodon's mouth. Titsks grew 

 from the sockets below the teeth. 



''JOSEPH" == story Told By a Fossil 



by Gwendolyn Hall 



Preparator, Department of Geology 



Among the many specimens which come to the Mu- 

 seum's paleontology laboratory for preparation are a few 

 which emerge as distinct "personalities,"' by virtue of un- 

 usual aspects of their fossil remains. Some of these speci- 

 mens even get dubbed with names. 



"Joseph" is a case in point. He was a mastodon (Matn- 

 mut americanum) and unique aspects of his fossil remains 

 gave us an interesting insight into what he experienced as 

 a living individual. 



Mastodons were common in the midwest 8,000 to 

 10,000 years ago during the Pleistocene. "Joseph" was ap- 



SEPTEMBER Page 13 



