Unveiled in Georgia: Ancient bison bones, a 50,000-year-old climate time capsule, offer a window into Earth’s distant past
Imagine standing at the edge of Tybee Island looking out into the expanse of the ocean, but instead of seemingly endless water there is another 60 miles of grasslands sprawling out ahead. Paleontologists from Georgia College and State University are uncovering what Georgia’s coastal environment looked like 58,000 years ago by studying the remains of ancient bison that once lived on these grasslands. Down in the Brunswick area, GSCU paleontology professor Al Mead and his team are unearthing all sorts of fossils, from little rodents to bison. The ancient bison are about 25% bigger than their modern descendants and they also have giant horns, extending up to 7 feet long. “The larger picture for me is, what was the environment like in the past?” Mead said. “We can have an idea of changes that Georgia has gone through, changes that the Earth has gone through, and it gives us a little power of prediction as we see climate change right now.” Knowing what happened so long ...