New AMS Radiocarbon Dates from Late Pleistocene Mastodons and Mammoths in New York State, USA

• Published in: Radiocarbon
• Main Authors: Feranec, Robert S, Kozlowski, Andrew L
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2012
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Archeology; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003382220004697x

During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) about 25,000 yr ago, the area of what is now New York State (USA) was almost entirely covered by the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS; Dyke et al. 2002). Subsequent habitation of this area after the melting of the LIS necessitates dispersal of fauna, and the timing of the dispersal of particular species may aid in the understanding of how the modern ecosystems of New York were assembled. Mastodons and mammoths represent the most abundant post-LGM Pleistocene megafauna recovered in New York. However, many of the specimens have not been dated. This paper presents a set of dates from bone and tooth dentine collagen of late Pleistocene mastodon ( n = 7) and mammoth ( n = 3) specimens housed in the Vertebrate Paleontology Collections at the New York State Museum, Albany, New York, USA.