500,000-year-old mammoth skull fragment examined at NMCSD

Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Justin Galvin | Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) staff and staff from the San Diego Natural History Museum (SDNHM) prepare to X-ray a 500,000-year-old mammoth skull fragment in the NMCSD radiology department. Due to the technological capabilities available at NMCSD, the museum requested NMCSD’s assistance in CT and X-ray scanning of the skull fragment.  

SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES

05.11.2015

Courtesy Story

Naval Medical Center San Diego

SAN DIEGO - Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) made history when it received its oldest patient from the San Diego Natural History Museum on May 11 — the upper fragment of a Columbian mammoth skull.

The 300 pound, half-million-year-old skull was first discovered and unearthed at San Diego’s Thomas Jefferson School of Law Feb. 3, 2009, during building construction, and was brought to the museum where paleontologists estimated it to be 500,000 years old.

“For this species of mammoth, which is the Columbian mammoth, it’s the first time that a skull has been CT scanned,” said Kesler Randall, collection manager in the museum’s Department of Paleontology. “It’s pretty exciting!”

The skull was carefully transported in a plaster and fiberglass cradle to NMCSD, where it could be CT and X-ray scanned. With the help of NMCSD’s radiology department and state-of-the-art technology, the scan revealed internal structures within the skull that have never been seen before.

“The most important information we’re getting is on the structure of the mammoth’s tooth,” said Randall. “The main factor that distinguishes mammoths from one another is the morphology of the teeth, their shape and structure. It’s important we know as much about them as we can.”

Thanks to the collaboration between NMCSD and the San Diego Natural History Museum, all information gathered from these scans will be available to the public and disseminated to other paleontologists.

“We can send this data to our colleagues,” said Randall. “Other people studying mammoths won’t have to travel to San Diego; they can just look at the data obtained here.”

Not only did this benefit the museum, it also provided NMCSD with a unique opportunity.

“We’re an academic and research center here at Naval Medical Center San Diego,” said Cmdr. (Dr.) Richard Montgomery, a radiologist assigned the radiology department at NMCSD. “We’re used to scanning in the pursuit of knowledge, and this is another opportunity for us to do that outside of our day-to-day job.”

Randall expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to work with NMCSD, saying that it’s been really wonderful working with the Navy on this project.

“We hope to work with them a little bit more in the future,” said Randall. “We’re excited to learn a lot more about this specimen.”

The San Diego Natural History Museum is a member of the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, a collaboration of 26 arts, science and culture institutions in Balboa Park. The mammoth skull fossil can be found on Level 3 of the museum.

For more information on Naval Medical Center San Diego, visit http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmcsd, www.facebook.com/NMCSD, or www.twitter.com/NMC_SD.

For more news from Naval Medical Center San Diego, visit www.navy.mil/local/sd/.

• Date Taken: 05.11.2015
• Date Posted: 05.15.2015 13:59
• Story ID: 163463
• Location: SAN DIEGO, CA, US