On the Trail of Mastodons

A Match Made in History

This prehistoric power couple features two unusually complete mastodon skeletons—a male and a female, both discovered and excavated with help from U-M scientists, within a few hours' drive from Ann Arbor!

What's more, our On the Trail of Mastodons exhibit is the only place in the world where you can see a male and female mastodon skeleton side-by-side and see a mastodon skeleton paired with a mastodon trackway. These footprints were cast from a trail left by a mastodon near Saline, Michigan. This is the only mastodon trackway ever found! 

Visitors can step into a cast of a separate mastodon footprint, touch a cast-replica of an eight-foot mastodon tusk, and peer into a diorama to see what the mastodons' environment looked like. You can also learn how U-M paleontologist Daniel Fisher and his team use tusks to learn how these amazing creatures lived and what factors may have led to their extinction.