The South Lake Union Mammoth roamed the Earth 20,000 years ago. A tusk from a member of the ancient species was recently found in a construction site. Now, Burke Museum is asking the public to help them name the newly-found animal.
At one time, the Colombian Mammoth wandered harmlessly around the region that would become Seattle, munching on herbs and shrubs. The tusk from this gentle giant measured eight-and-a-half feet long.
Anyone with a name to suggest for the monstrous, prehistoric creature can submit their ideas to the museum at seattlemammoth.org. Entries will be accepted between 8 March and 30 March. Museum officials will notify winners on 7 April, and will publicly announce the names four days later.
A panel of four judges will be selecting the winners. These include Dr. Christian Sidor, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at Burke Museum, Lori Matsukawa of KING 5 News, Matt Elly, from AMLI Residential, which owns the property on which the find was made, and Twitter personality SLU_Mammoth.
As part of a growing effort to use humor to teach science, the museum established a Twitter page for the fossil. Recent tweets include "Is it just me or has it been raining for 60,000 years?," "An all herbivore diet plus a good run daily... from Saber Tooth cats & spears...keeps me trim," and "Paleo diets are so yesterday. Try the new Pleistocene diet!"
The Web site is entirely written in the first-person, or first-mammoth, as the case may be. The long-dead animal explains, "The experts at the Burke Museum are taking care of my tusk, but I need your help to rediscover my name. (My memory is a little hazy after about 20,000 years)."
Winners of the contest will receive a membership to the Burke Museum, valued at $45. This benefit provides unlimited free admission to the museum for one year, and an invite to a "behind-the-scenes" night, held once a year. If a winner can't make it to the museum, they will at least have the satisfaction of naming an ancient giant.
On 6 March, the museum sponsored a presentation about the animal. Members of the crew who found the tusk shared their recollections of the experience, and commented on the significance of the find. Columbian Mammoths are the official state fossil of Washington.
While you are suggesting names for the extinct animal, don't forget to download coloring sheets for your kids, also available on the Web site. And if you're thinking of suggesting Seeger, after the late folk singer, you're too late. I've already suggested it.
