Cr. Harington et al., THE HILLSBOROUGH, NEW-BRUNSWICK, MASTODON AND COMMENTS ON OTHER PLEISTOCENE MASTODON FOSSILS FROM NOVA-SCOTIA, Canadian journal of earth sciences, 30(6), 1993, pp. 1242-1253
This is the first detailed description of the remains of a young adult
American mastodon (Mammut americanum) found in 1936 in peaty silt and
clay underlying till in gypsum karst near Hillsborough, New Brunswick
. It documents 312 fossils comprising a partial skull with molar teeth
and tusks, a neck vertebra, and much of the right postcranial skeleto
n. An individual age of 15-18 years and a weight of 8.3 t are estimate
d for this mastodon. Associated spheroids, containing cut wood fragmen
ts and an unusually high clay content, are interpreted to be mastodon
coprolites. Radiocarbon ages are 13600 +/- 200 (bone), 37200 +/- 1310
(coprolite wood), 51500 +/- 1270 (coprolite carbonate cement), and > 4
3000 BP (peat). Pollen in the coprolites and associated sediment indic
ates a coniferous forest. Nine other mastodon fossils from Nova Scotia
include a femur from Middle River, which dates 31 300 +/- 500 BP and
contains pollen representing boreal forest - tundra, and three molars
from offshore Georges Bank. All ages are judged minimal: the older fou
r are at or near the limit of the method; the younger is likely incorr
ect because of preservative contamination. Associated pollen assemblag
es correlate with late last interglacial age deposits in the region an
d differ from possible Middle Wisconsinan age deposits. The fossils ar
e regarded as a single group and are assigned to a cool phase of the S
angamonian interglaciation, probably oxygen-isotope substage 5a, prior
to Wisconsinan glaciation.