discovered - WKTV Journal

Dr. Cory Redman, Grand Rapids Public Museum’s science curator, works to excavate the mastodon bones. (GRPM)

Kent County road crews got a little surprise as they were working to replace a culvert along the county line on 22 Mile Road: they discovered a femur bone.

Turns out that the bone is part of a mastodon with officials from the Grand Rapids Public Museum and the University of the Michigan contacted to come to the site to excavate. University of Michigan officials confirmed that the bones are mastodon.

There is some speculation that there may be two set of bones. Once the bones have been excavated, they will be processed by the University of Michigan. The bones are scheduled to be returned to the Grand Rapids Public Museum per the landowner’s wishes.

Mastodon versus mammoth

The mastodon is a member of the order Proboscidea, which also includes the mammoths, modern elephants, and a wide variety of extinct elephant-like species that evolved more than 60 million years ago.

The American Mastodon was wide-spread across all of North America from Alaska to central Mexico. It was smaller than the mammoth and they used their teeth to clip and crush twigs. Mammoths grazed on grass. Also, mastodons had straighter tusks and both the body and head of the mastodon is longer and squatter than the woolly mammoth

It is estimated that more 300 mastodon fossils have been found in southern Michigan and in fact, the state’s fossil is a mastodon fossil. In 2016, a UM-lead team unearthed Michigan’s most complete ice age mastodon since the 1940s in Mayville, located in Michigan’s thumb area. The team found 70 percent of the mastodon skeleton.

The Grand Rapids Public Museum has several mastodon fossils in its collection including the most famous local find, “Smitty,” which was 40 percent of a full mastodon skeleton found in 1985 in Grandville. Smitty’s skeletal material has been radiocarbon dated by multiple researchers, yielding dates ranging from 10,920 to 12,160 years ago.

The Museum also has the Moorland Mastodon which was found in 1904 in the Muskegon area and which has been on display for several years at the museum. Dr. Cory Redman, who is the museum’s science curator, has been working on restoring the Moorland Mastodon to a state that would be better for is preservation.

To stay up-to-date on the Kent City mastodon, visit the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s Facebook page.

As a side note, the Grand Rapids Public Museum currently has the exhibit “Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs.” For more information about the exhibit, visit grpm.org.

By WKTV staff
joanne@wktv.org

West Nile virus has been detected in a recent mosquito trapping by the Kent County Health Department. (CDC.gov)

The recent news that West Nile virus has been detected in Kent County reminds everyone the importance of preventing mosquito bites.

The Kent county Health Departments (KCHD) Mosquito Surveillance Team has detected West Nile virus in mosquitos. This part of the ongoing tracking that takes place through the country every summer. The discovery comes after testing pools of mosquitoes that were trapped by KCHD in the 49519 zip code, which is in Wyoming.

“The discovery is important because it lets us know that this season’s mosquitoes are now carrying the virus and it could spread to humans,” said KCHD Public Health Epidemiologist Paul Bellamy. “It is important for people to take precautions to prevent mosquito bites as much as possible.”

The Mosquito Surveillance Team traps large amounts of mosquitoes in various locations in Kent County. The team then collects the pools of mosquitoes and begins the process of testing the insects for presence of West Nile virus. The information the team gathers is shared with the municipalities where West Nile virus is found. Those agencies can then use that information to inform that mosquito mitigation strategies.

Tips for keeping safe

There is no vaccine or cure for West Nile virus so the best treatment is prevention. KCHD recommends the following measures:

Cover exposed skin when able

Wear a mosquito repellant that contains 10 to 35 percent DEET (read and follow product directions)

Wear light colored clothing and stay indoors

Remove or refresh water in bird baths, children’s wading pools, water bowls for your pets, and empty other small containers that can collect water in your yard.

Repair missing, damaged or improperly installed screens.

For more information about prevention, visit https://www.accesskent.com/Health/Environmental/vector.htm

Only about 20 percent of the people infected with West Nile virus notice symptoms that may include headache, body aches, joint pains, and fatigue. Most people with West Nile virus completely recover, but fatigue may linger. About one in 150 people infected develop severe illness that can affect the central nervous system. Recovery may take several months. Some damage to the central nervous systems can be permanent. In race instances, the disease can lead to death.

According to a 20 year review of the West Niles virus (it was discovered in the United States in 1999), a total of 51,702 cases of WNV have been reported to Center for Disease Control’s ArboNET, including 25,227 (48.8%) WNND and 2,376 (4.6%) deaths.

Zika Virus

The mosquito species that carry the Zika virus are not currently present in our area. However, the Zika virus is still a worldwide concern and can be contacted through out-of-state travel.