Discovering the Mastodon:
Part 9: Meanwhile, in Europe…

While Americans had direct access to new mastodon fossils, several European naturalists were puzzling over the fossil remains of the "animal de l'Ohio" or "Mammoth". The paucity of specimens and their unfamiliarity led to considerable differences in interpretation. The identity of this unknown animal was far from resolved.

Christian Freiderich Michaelis, who tried repeatedly to obtain fossils while he was in America, returned to Göttingen (Germany) with some fossil illustrations by Charles Willison Peale (2). In a 1789 publication, Michaelis rejected Daubenton's contention that the Ohio fossils represented an elephant and a gigantic hippopotamus. Instead, he agreed with Hunter and Collison in that these fossils represented a single, unknown animal that was not extinct. Unlike Hunter, Michaelis concluded that its teeth were not those of a carnivore.

Michaelis also added a new, confounding element to the debate on the unknown animal. Using Peale's drawing of an upper jaw fragment, he concluded that the animal lacked the tusks and trunk of the elephant. This unusual interpretation was apparently the result of mistaking front and back on the illustration. Unlike most mammals, the space between the two rows of molars in the mastodon is narrower in the back than in the front. The end that he thought was the front simply left too little room for tusks and no room for a trunk. Unfortunately, Michaelis' interpretation was supported by Petrus Camper, a noted Dutch anatomist and an authority on fossil elephants (3).

Confusion and debate about this perplexing animal persisted until the issue was effectively resolved by the French anatomist Georges Cuvier (4). He tackled the subject in his first scholarly paper, Memoire sur les especes d'elephans tant vivantes que fossils, (Memoir on the Species of Elephants, Both Living and Fossil). In his 1796 paper, Cuvier convincingly demonstrates that the "animal de l'Ohio" was different from the Siberian mammoth and that both of these extinct species were distinct from modern elephants. Moreover, he demonstrates that there are two species of living elephants (Indian and African) rather than the commonly accepted single species (5).

Cuvier returned to the subject of the "animal de l'Ohio" in 1806 with his Sur le grande mastodonte, (About the Great Mastodon). Incorporating information from a variety of sources, including Rembrandt Peale's recent Disquisition on the Mammoth (1803) as well as older publications by Louis Daubenton, Peter Collinson, William Hunter and Petrus Camper (f6), the French anatomist presents a detailed description of the animal and names it Mastodon giganteum . Cuvier named the animal after its distinctive teeth with their pronounced conical knobs (mastos = breast, odon = tooth). The "Mammoth", "American incognitum" or "animal de l'Ohio" is now known as the American mastodon. Although Curvier was the first to adequately describe this animal, two other naturalists had already given it scientific names. In accordance with the rules of Biological Nomenclature, these earlier names take priority and the mastodon is now recognized as Mammut americanum (7).

Cuvier's 1806 paper on the mastodon was published before fossils from the Clark-Jefferson expedition to Big Bone Lick reached Paris in (8). Jefferson's fossils were also not included in the 1812 publication Reserches sur les ossemens fossils de quadrupèdes which was primarily a compilation of earlier publications. However, the Jefferson fossils were incorporated in subsequent editions of Reserches sur les osemens fossils and many of the specimens were illustrated.

Next: Part 10 - Epilogue

Print Resources:

• Bedini, S.A. 1985. "Thomas Jefferson and American Vertebrate Paleontology." Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Publication 61. Charlottesville. 26 pp.
• Bell, W.J. Jr. 1949. "A Box of Old Bones: A Note on the Identification of the Mastodon." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 93: 169-177.
• Blumenbach, Johan Friedrich. 1799. Handbuch fur Naturgeschichte. Gottingen. Translated by R.T. Gore as: A Manual on the Elements of Natural History. London: 1825.
• Cohen, C. 2002. The Fate of the Mammoth: Fossils, Myths and History. Translated by William Rodarmor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Originally published as Le Destin du Mammouth. 1994. Editions du Seuil.
• Cuvier, Georges. 1796. "Mémoire sur les épèces d'elephants tant vivantes que fossils, lu à la séance publique de l'Institut National le 15 germinal, an IV." Magasin encyclopédique, 2e anée, 3: 440-445.
• Cuvier, Georges. 1806. "Sur le grande Mastodonte, animal très-voisin de l'éléphant, mais à mâchelières hérissées de gros tubercles, dont on trouve les os en divers endroits des deux continens, et surtout près des ords de l'Ohio, dans l'Amérique Septentrionale improprement nommé Mammouth par les Anglais et par les habitans des États-Unis." Annales du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle 8:270-312, pls 49-56.
• Cuvier, Georges. 1812. Researches sur les ossemens fossilses de quadrupèdes, où l'on rétablit les caractères de plusieurs espèces d'animaux que les révolutions du globe paroissent avoir détruites. 4 vol. Paris: Deterville.
• Cuvier, Georges. 1825. Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles : où l'on rétablit les charactères de plusieurs animaux dont les révolutions du globe ont détruit les espèces. Paris: G. Dufour et E. d'Ocagne.
• Rice, H.C. Jr. 1951. "Jefferson's Gift of Fossils to the Museum of Natural History in Paris." Proceedings of the American Philsophical Society. 95: 599-610.
• Rudwick, M.J.S. 1997. Georges Cuvier, Fossil Bones and Geological Catastrophes: new translations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Semonin, P. 2002. American Monster: How the nation's first prehistoric creature became a symbol of national identity. New York & London: New York University Press.

Notes:

• All fossil images after Cuvier (1825). (go back]
• Michaelis enlisted Charles Willson Peale to illustrate several fossils of the Ohio animal belonging to John Morgan. The fossils, which were collected from Big Bone Lick in 1766, generated considerable excitement in Peale's studio and ultimately inspired him to launch his natural history museum (see Peale's Museum) and his efforts to secure the complete skeleton of the "Mammoth."   (See Part 4 - Enter the Americans and Part 7 - Peale's Mammoth for more information.) [go back]
• Petrus Camper (1722-1789) was one of Europe's leading anatomists during the 18 th century. He is most famous for his work on craniology (comparative anatomy of the human skull), which was typically applied as a demonstration of European racial superiority. One of Camper's more significant zoological contributions was his publication on the dissection of the Indian elephant. (go back]
• Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) was one of the leading scientists of the early 19th century. His work on fossil animals effectively founded the science of paleontology. See Cuvier's Revolutions of the Globe for more information. [go back]
• Modern elephants were regarded by most European naturalists as a single species. Some anatomist, most notably Johann Friedirch Blumenbach, suspected that the African and Indian "races" were in fact two different species. Significantly, Cuvier's analysis of the Indian and African species was made possible France's recent military defeat of the Dutch. One of the terms of the peace between the two countries was the transfer of natural history collections to the museum in Paris. The acquisition of these new specimens allowed Cuvier to comprehensively compare the bones and teeth of both types of elephants. [go back]
• Petrus Camper's assertion that the Ohio animal could not have possessed tusks was a significant stumbling block in Cuvier's work on the mastodon. He was reluctant to challenge the late anatomist's findings so he suggested to Camper's son, Adriaan Camper, that the fossil should be reevaluated. The younger Camper, himself a notable anatomist, did so and concluded that his father was in fact in error. [go back]
• The British naturalist Robert Kerr named the American incognitum Elephas americanus in 1792. In 1799, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach named the Ohio animal Mammut ohioticum; Blumenbach also named the Siberian mammoth as Elephas primigenius. Cuvier's name, Mastodon giganteus, was widely used by paleontologists well into the 20th century. [go back]
• The Clark-Jefferson Expedition recovered numerous mastodon fossils from Big Bone Lick in 1807. Upon their arrival in Washington, DC, the fossils were partitioned into three groups. The first was added to the collection at the American Philosophical Society. The second was added to Jefferson's personal collection. The third was donated to the Natural History Museum in Paris. The shipment to Paris arrived in September, 1808.[go back]