science

Timeline of paleontology in Michigan

Timeline of paleontology in Michigan is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Timeline of paleontology in Michigan rather than just read about it. In short: This timeline of paleontology in Michigan is a chronologically ordered list events in the history of paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Michigan. 19th century 1830s 1839 The state's first scientifically documented American mastodon remains were discovered. 1870s 1877 Five Pleistocene peccaries (Platygonus compressus) were discovered in an Ionia County peat bog loc…

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Reference excerpt

This timeline of paleontology in Michigan is a chronologically ordered list events in the history of paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Michigan.

19th century

1830s

1839 The state's first scientifically documented American mastodon remains were discovered.

1870s

1877 Five Pleistocene peccaries (Platygonus compressus) were discovered in an Ionia County peat bog located near the town of Belding. The find was credited to L. N. Tuttle and the specimens are now catalogued as UMMP 7325.

20th century

1900s

1903 Wagner reported Tuttle's peccaries to the scientific literature.

1910s

1914 Ezra Smith made another interesting Pleistocene-aged discovery, finding the fossil penis bone of a Late Pleistocene walrus seven miles northwest of Gaylord. The specimen was referred to the genus Odobenus and is now catalogued as UMMAA 490.

1920s

1923 O. P. Hay reported the presence of two identifiable species and one indeterminate form of mammoth whose fossils had been found in Michigan.

1925 Hinsdale reported Smith's walrus penis bone to the scientific literature.

1927 Excavations for a new schoolhouse in Oscoda turned up a Late Pleistocene fossil rib that may have belonged to a bowhead whale of the genus Balaena. The specimen is now catalogued as UMMP 11008.

1930s

1930 Hussey publish the first scientific paper on the Michiganian whale fossils curated by the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology.

1940s

1940 MacAlpin calculated that a total of 117 American mastodon specimens had been discovered in Michigan.

1949 October: A third lower premolar from a Pleistocene elk was discovered in Berrien County.

1950s

1953 Handley tentatively referred the rib discovered in Oscoda during the 1927 schoolhouse excavation to the genus Balaena. He also reported the discovery of an Arkonan-aged rorqual rib of the genus Balaenoptera. The fossil had been discovered upright in the sand during the excavation of a cellar in Genesee County. Handley also reported the discovery of another walrus fossil, a skull catalogued as UMMP 32453 found in a Makinac Island gravel deposit. Handley also reported the discovery of sperm whale ribs and a vertebra from Lenawee County.

1960s

1961 August: Larry Kickels collected the third right upper molar of a Jefferson mammoth from a gravel layer 100 feet below the surface of Berrien County, near the town of Watervliet.

1962 September 18 Larry Kramer discovered a lower mastodon molar now catalogued as GRPM 12540 in Paris Township along Buck Creek. Skeels reported that since MacAlpin's 1940 review of Michigan mastodon discoveries 49 new finds had been made. He also performed the first census of local mammoth remains, noting that 32 Jefferson mammoths had been discovered in Michigan. Hatt also formally described a partial mastodon skull now catalogued as CIPS 827 which had been discovered in Pontiac. Fossils of a Jefferson mammoth were discovered in Gratiot County.

1963 Oltz and Kapp reported the 1962 Gratiot County mammoth discovery to the scientific literature. Hatt reported the discovery of a mammoth molar in Oakland County to the scientific literature.

1964 May: Fred Berndt discovered lower jaw fragments and the second right molar of a lower mastodon jaw, in Lincoln Township. The remains are now catalogued as UMMP 49425.

1965 The Petoskey stone, which is made of fossil coral, was designated the state stone of Michigan.

21st century

2000s

2002 The American mastodon, Mammut americanum was designated the Michigan state fossil.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Timeline of paleontology in Michigan

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Timeline of paleontology in Michigan claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Timeline of paleontology in Michigan before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Timeline of paleontology in Michigan ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Timeline of paleontology in Michigan

In research: Timeline of paleontology in Michigan appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Timeline of paleontology in Michigan in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Timeline of paleontology in Michigan is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Michigan history-related lists, Paleontology in Michigan, Paleontology timelines, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Timeline of paleontology in Michigan outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Timeline of paleontology in Michigan in simple terms?

This timeline of paleontology in Michigan is a chronologically ordered list events in the history of paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Michigan. 19th century 1830s 1839 The state's first scientifically documented American mastodon remains were d…

Why does Timeline of paleontology in Michigan matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Timeline of paleontology in Michigan?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Timeline of paleontology in Michigan.