Home of the mastodons: Purdue Fort Wayne showcases permanent display for mastodon bones | Local | wfft.com

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After eight years of being stored in the basement of Walb Student Union, this 13,000-year-old mastodon skeleton is once again on display at Purdue University Fort Wayne for all to see.

Fifty-six years in the making, Purdue University Fort Wayne is now once again the home of the mastodons.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) — Fifty-six years in the making, Purdue University Fort Wayne is now once again the home of the mastodons.

Proudly displayed in the Walb Student Union, bones from the skeleton of a mastodon were welcomed back to campus last week.

The mastodon skeleton, nicknamed “Donna,” was discovered in 1968 on a Steuben County farm.

Originally, the bones were placed in a Kettler Hall classroom and laboratory on PFW’s campus for students to study from 1984 to 2016.

In 2016, the skeleton traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich. to allow University of Michigan professor and mastodon expert Daniel Fisher to further study them.

Graham Fredrick, a library systems specialist who is pictured here, was part of a team that included Erika Mann, director of library technology and digital initiatives, and Daniel Lin, information services technician, who scanned the display's baby mastodon skull for 3D digitization.

When the bones returned to Fort Wayne, they were stored for eight years in the basement of the Walb Student Union.

Ultimately, it was PFW’s Student Government Association’s allocation of $200,00 during the 2022-23 academic year and a $20,000 donation from the Purdue Fort Wayne Foundation that pulled the bones from storage and brought the hopes for a proper display to fruition.

Now residing in their permanent home, the mastodon bones are in a glass display case near the student union’s new Mastodon Hideout and in the hallway leading to the International Ballroom.

For more information about the skeleton’s discovery, journey back to campus and the individuals that made the new display a reality, click here.

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