Photo courtesy of City of Waco and Dava Butler. In 2007, Baylor graduate student, John Bongino specifically studied different strata at the site to see if the multiple flooding event idea was correct. After studying the soil under a microscope, he decided that the nursery herd perished in a single terrible flooding event. It is still unclear what the cause of death was for the second, later event. Bongino’s research did show signs of more flooding events occurring after the first event. Another idea is that the animals came to the area for all the food and water that was supposed to be here, but a drought caused all the food and water to disappear. They think the animals died of thirst and starvation and then later floods moved soils on top of them, burying their bones. More information about both ideas and studies about Waco Mammoth National Monument are included on the park’s For Further Reading page. |
Last updated: August 2, 2019