Researchers said it was left mortally wounded after another mastodon’s tusk tip punctured the right side of its skull (pictured) Researchers said it was left mortally wounded after another mastodon’s tusk tip punctured the right side of its skull.Īnalysis of an Ice Age mastodon tusk found in Indiana reveals the extinct animal died 100 miles from home in a bloody mating season battle 13,200 years ago. They found that the mastodon, named Buesching, was killed at the age of 34 in what today is northeast Indiana in the US. Remarkably, they were able to show not only how the eight-tonne creature died but also its age at the time and where it had been journeying from and too. Researchers retraced the primitive elephant’s life – from regular migrations to its final moments – by scanning and carrying out chemical tests on a nine-and-a-half foot tusk. Analysis of an Ice Age mastodon tusk found in Indiana reveals the extinct animal died 100 miles from home in a bloody mating season battle 13,200 years ago.

Mastodon animal age