Inner View of Orthotetes Brachiopod Fossil

This image shows inside of the shell of an Orthotetes keokuk brachiopod fossil.

It was found in the Edwardsville Formation of Floyd County, Indiana, USA. The fossil dates to the lower Carboniferous (Mississippian) Period.

Thanks Kenny for the image.

Mastodon Tooth

This mastodon tooth is on display at the Falls of the Ohio State Park Interpretive Center. A learned a couple of things from the display. Mastodons differ from mammoths in their teeth were used to eat more trees (branches, twigs, bark) while the mammoths ate more grasses. Also mammoths are more similar to today's elephants with their longer tusks and more distinct heads. The mastodon has a flatter head, longer body and short tusks.

A French-Canadian explorer Charles Le Moyne found the first American mastodon skeleton in 1739 in what would be come Kentucky. The bones were sent to Georges Cuvier in Paris France who named it Mastodon americanus.

Learn more by visiting the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clark County, Indiana, USA.

http://fallsoftheohio.org/

Mammoth Tusk

These mammoth tusk pieces are on display at the Falls of the Ohio State Park Interpretive Center. They thought to be 12,000 to 20,000 years old. The tusks were unearthed at the Nugent Sand Company quarry in Bethlehem, Indiana, USA. Studying the dentine layers on these tusks can help researchers determine the age of the creature when it died.

I have not seen Indiana tusks in this good of condition before. If you get chance, try to visit as they have quite a few fossils and artifacts on display.

http://fallsoftheohio.org/