438 Loom its — An ('nuptial Mastodon. 



Art. XXVIII. — An Unusual Mastodon; by F. B. Loomis. 



In 1869 Dr. C. U. Shepard, Jr., collected two imperfect 

 skeletons of mastodons from the. beds overlying the 

 phosphate deposits of South Carolina. These have been 

 in the collections at Amherst College since then, but on 

 account of their fragmentary condition were not exhib- 

 ited. Recently on trying to fit together some of the parts 

 it was found that of one specimen the greater part of a 

 skeleton could be assembled. This is the one used as the 

 basis of this article. It also developed that there were 

 several unusual characters about both of the specimens 

 which makes it advisable to put them on record. 



The first individual came from the marl at the head of 

 Hilton Harbor on St. Helena Island, being found 1 

 ''nearly at low water. One thigh bone projected for say 

 two feet out of the sand and had been used by boatmen to 

 tie their boats to." This is the better preserved speci- 

 men, over half of the skeleton being present and almost 

 every bone represented on either one or the other side. 

 Fig. 1 shows the skeleton as restored, the portions shaded 

 dark being the parts preserved, the lighter areas being 

 the restored portions. The lower jaw, however, belongs 

 to the second individual. The cranium seems to have 

 weathered to bits, though the upper dentition is pre- 

 served, and probably the lower was also originally, but 



as Dr. Shepard says, Captain B who helped dig 



out the specimen "retained some teeth" and of these 

 there is now no trace. 



The second specimen came from Nine Mile Bottom, 

 i. p., nine miles above Charleston. It was found while 

 stripping to get to the phosphate deposit "in the black 

 earth 3 to 4" feet from the surface." This specimen is. 

 about five per cent larger than the one from St. Helena 

 Island, but is in a very poor state of preservation. The 

 parts which were in a good state were the two lower 

 jaws with their complete dentition including the tusks, 

 and some of the foot bones and vertebra. 



Both individuals are of unusually large size ; both have 

 two tusks in the lower jaws, both have the last molars 

 composed of five transverse ridges and a heel, whereas the 

 usual number is four and a heel. It was a temptation to 



1 From a letter from Dr. C. IT. Shepard of date March 6, 191?.. 



