Seminole Historical Society Boca Ciega Millennium Park Fossil Exhibit

Talking Points and Background

• The Millennium Park Dig was quite significant because the animals lived here, died here and were discovered here.
• A 16 year old Seminole High school student, Sierra Sarti-Sweeney, was on a nature photography walk in 2007 when she stumbled across a shiny black rock about the size of a football. She took the rock home to show her brother, Sean, a geology student at USF. After some initial research, it was discovered that the rock was the tooth of a Columbian mammoth. The family contacted paleontology experts, who confirmed the identification of the tooth. The county closed the park, and an 11-month dig began. These bones and fossils are products of the dig. County park employees began working at the site, along with experts from Tampa Museum of Science and Industry, USF, and St. Petersburg College. The University of Florida also was involved. The Tampa Bay Fossil Club worked with Seminole High students, teaching them how to make plaster jackets for fragile bones. Work at the dig became a community effort. Sierra, the finder of the tooth, called the find “One of the proudest moments of my life,” and continues her interest in fossils to this day (2018).
• The mammoth at our museum lived during the late Pleistocene Epoch (Ice Age) about 11,700 years ago. During the late Pleistocene Epoch, there are signs that the Paleo Indians existed alongside of the mammoths.
• A mammoth height was about 14 to 15 feet. Our museum ceiling is 15’ high.
• A mammoth weight was around 8 - 10 tons, or 16,000 to 20,000 lbs.
• The mammoth jaw in the cabinet is that of a 50-year old male.
• The single tooth in the cabinet is 16” long.
• Mammoths were vegetarian and consumed 700 lbs. of tough grasses and other types of vegetation daily.
• Mammoths had only 4 teeth: two upper and two lower. These teeth were replaced 6 times in their lifetime. At age 43, they would have their sixth set that would last the rest of their lives. When the molar ridges wore down and the mammoth could no longer grind its food, it died of starvation.
• A mammoth’s life span was 60 to 80 years.
• Mammoths migrated from Asia and Europe 1.5 million years ago.
• Other bones in the display are from giant tortoises, giant armadillos, horses, white-tailed deer, llamas, and giant bison.

It is most unusual that all of these different animal bones were found near each other. This site was much different while these animals were alive. Scientists believe that Pinellas county was 100 miles from the ocean. There are many theories as to how all of these different animal bones came to be found together. One theory is that the animals got stuck in the muck of a riverbed. The animals died and the river washed all the bones together.