By Helke Mocke
Date: Wednesday, 28th January 2015
Time: 19h30
Venue: Namibia Scientific Society
In August 2014 an international team consisting of scientists from the Netherlands, Germany and France in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Namibia visited the Etosha National Park. The aim of the trip was to excavate bones of a mammoth, which had been discovered in 2008. The mammoth was identified as Mammuthus subplanifrons (OSBORN, 1928), which lived in Southern Africa during the Pliocene, about five million years ago. A partial skeleton of the mammoth was successfully excavated next to the Ekuma riverbank revealing a scapula, femur, tibia and fibula, thoracic, lumbar and sacral vertebrae, pelvis, several ribs and a polished tusk fragment. It is considered to be the most complete skeleton of this species ever excavated. It is a unique specimen and measurements of the partial skeleton indicate that this may have been a male individual. The remains of a second adult individual and a baby, represented by a lower molar tooth were found as well. These skeletal remains of Mammuthus subplanifrons, also known as the “Urmammut” will provide scientists and the world at large with new information on the evolution of the earliest mammoths. Future plans include the production of an attractive display in the National Earth Science Museum in the Geological Survey of Namibia in Windhoek.
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Helke Mocke was born in Windhoek, Namibia. She is a palaeontologist working at the National Earth Science Museum at the Geological Survey of Namibia in Windhoek. She is currently studying for her Masters at the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Her research interests include the use of fossils as indicators of climate change, dinosaur footprints, earliest mammal ancestors, meteorites and minerals from Tsumeb.
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Helke Mocke was born in Windhoek, Namibia. She is a palaeontologist working at the National Earth Science Museum at the Geological Survey of Namibia in Windhoek. She is currently studying for her Masters at the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Her research interests include the use of fossils as indicators of climate change, dinosaur footprints, earliest mammal ancestors, meteorites and minerals from Tsumeb.
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