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Picture of the day -
September 24, 2006
An American Mastodon Skeleton In Saltville, Va
Click photo to enlarge
Today's picture features a scale model of an American
Mastodon skeleton that stands on display at the wonderful
Museum Of The Middle Appalachians
in
Saltville, Virginia. Mastodons, like modern elephants and their
extinct cousins wooly mammoths, belong to the order Proboscidea.
 Up
until about 11,000 years ago, mastodons roamed the North American
continent along with many other now extinct species, as well as many
animals that are still around today. No one really knows for sure
what caused their extinction, but we do know that there were lots of
mastodons in our local area.
Thanks to the vast amount of salt to be found there, the valley in
which present-day Saltville is located has always been a magnet for a
large variety of animals. Numerous fossils have been found in the Saltville
Valley, and more are being discovered all the time (many of which
end up in the museum).
Today, Saltville is a magnet for humans who have an interest in
natural history, and the Museum Of The Middle Appalachians is a
great place to start!
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