PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
FULTON COUNTY FOSSIL … Bowling Green State University Professor of Service Excellence Dr. Margaret Yacobucci unveils a mastodon bone that will now be displayed at the Museum of Fulton County. The bone belonged to a mastodon discovered in Winameg in 1978.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
The Museum of Fulton County unveiled its newest artifact to a packed house Friday night – a large bone from a mastodon discovered in Winameg in 1978.
Dr. Margaret Yacobucci, professor of service excellence at Bowling Green State University, presented the fossil as well as a brief lecture on the species, Ohio’s geologic history, and the background of the relic.
According to an article released at the time of its discovery, several bones from the animal were found when a farm pond was being dug with a bulldozer at a property located on County Road 10-2 north of County Road K.
The area was once part of a sand ridge located along the edge of Lake Maumee – a proglacial lake that eventually receded along with the ice, forming Lake Erie.
The fossils were initially believed to be logs before being identified as mastodon bones. Yacobucci said the Winameg mastodon was eventually identified to be a male due to a scar from a baby tusk falling off the chin (only male mastodons had the tusk).
It is believed to have been part of a herd that roamed in south central Indiana and traveled to the northwest Ohio area in the summer for mating season around the southwest shore of Lake Maumee.
While the Fulton County museum will now have the fossilized bone on display, the remaining pieces found in Winameg remain in the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
After her presentation, Yacobucci said she was happy with the turnout, especially considering the cold temperatures.
“I’m so happy that so many people came out to learn more about Ohio’s history and its natural history.
“I think dinosaurs take the spotlight a lot of the time, but we don’t have dinosaurs in Ohio because of the age of our rocks, but we have these amazing ice age animals that I really want more people to know about because they aren’t all that rare and you might really find one in your backyard.
“So, it’s useful for the community to know that they’re out there,” Yacobucci said.
The Museum of Fulton County is located at 8848 State Highway 108 near Wauseon and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
For more information, visit the museum’s website at www.MuseumofFultonCounty.org.