Alton Dooley

Alton Dooley

B.A., Geology, Carleton College Ph.D., Geology, Louisiana State University

Executive Director of the Western Science Center

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Published on Mar 27, 2019

So, here's what we did...

We discovered a new species of mastodon!If you've followed our lab notes over the last several years, you've seen that as we accumulated more and more data from our project, California mastodons st...

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Published on Mar 22, 2019

Remember me?

It has been more than a year since my last post, but it has been a year well spent. Our research project has finally come to fruition, a manuscript has been submitted and accepted, and will be offi...

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Published on Nov 26, 2017

Almost there...

It’s been several months since I posted an update, and quite a lot has happened in that time. In August the Western Science Center hosted the Valley of the Mastodons Symposium and Exhibit. A group ...

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Published on Jul 13, 2017

Two more museums

Over the last two weeks, in addition to preparations for the upcoming Valley of the Mastodons exhibit and workshop, I also found the time to visit two more museum collections. First was the Santa B...

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Published on Jun 28, 2017

More specimens, and a new exhibit

I apologize for the lack of updates. But I promise it's not due to lack of activity, but rather because of an excess. So we have lots of new things to report!First, back in March I made a brief tri...

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Published on Mar 20, 2017

Filling in the Pacific Northwest

After obtaining measurements a few weeks ago from Alaska and Yukon mastodon teeth, it became clear that it would be necessary to examine additional specimens from the Pacific coast states. All of t...

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Published on Feb 22, 2017

WAVP meeting, and some new teeth

Last Saturday I attended the annual Western Association of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting in Prescott, AZ, where I presented an update on the Mastodons of Unusual Size project. The...

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Published on Dec 20, 2016

A mystery tooth

During our Mastodons of Unusual Size road trip, we examined a large amount of material that couldn't be included in our dataset. In most cases this was because the teeth were too da...

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Published on Nov 11, 2016

SVP roundup

After returning from the SVP meeting I was tied up working on the museum's 2017 budget, but now I have a chance to give a brief report.At SVP poster sessions, the posters are groupe...

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I included an exclamation point! Thanks so much for you support. The outcome really was a huge surprise to us, but that's one of the joys of science; you never know what you might find.
May 31, 2019
Mastodons of Unusual Size: Exploring variation in American mastodon populations
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Thanks some much, and Im really glad you enjoyed your visit to WSC!
Mar 22, 2019
Mastodons of Unusual Size: Exploring variation in American mastodon populations
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We're working on the manuscript now. When it's published, we intend to make it open access and to openly publish our entire dataset, including catalog numbers. We'll be including teeth from more than 150 individual mastodons (no mammoths; they're not part of this study).
Jun 10, 2017
Mastodons of Unusual Size: Exploring variation in American mastodon populations
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Joanne, as I'm primarily measuring teeth I haven't been taking detailed notes on other elements, except femoral measurements when possible. I can say that, while I've seen a number of healed fractures, no greenstick fractures immediately come to mind. I've also not noticed any in the relatively large mastodon collection at WSC, although, again, I haven't been specifically looking for them.
Jun 10, 2017
Mastodons of Unusual Size: Exploring variation in American mastodon populations
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Thanks! I should have another up next week, after we get feedback at the SVP meeting.
Oct 19, 2016
Mastodons of Unusual Size: Exploring variation in American mastodon populations
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Thanks to all of our donors for helping us move this research forward! I'll be posting regularly at experiment.com (especially in the lab notes) as the project moves forward to keep you updated on our progress. In addition, make sure you check out our other online venues for details during the trip: the Western Science Center's blog (valleyofthemastodon.wordpress.com), my Twitter feed (@altondooley), and Max's Twitter feed (@maxmastodon). Much of our Southern California data has already been collected, although there is still some to gather (we haven't finished measuring the WSC mastodons yet!). Several other researchers have also generously offered to contribute data to the project; that's largely why we were able to lower our funding target. We'll be pulling that data together over the next several months. Finally, the road trip will take place during the first two weeks of July. I'll post a complete list of the places we're visiting in the coming weeks, as we work out the exact dates and times for our visits. We've already confirmed dates with the following museums: LSU Museum of Natural Science Joseph Moore Museum at Earlham College Boonshoft Museum of Discovery Geological Museum at the University of Wyoming I'll be adding to this list as the trip schedule comes together. Thanks again for your support. Let's do some science!
May 23, 2016
Mastodons of Unusual Size: Exploring variation in American mastodon populations
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It sure is! We're already scheduled to visit the Boonshoft museum in Dayton, and we're trying to work out a date with the Cincinnati Museum. We're also visiting Earlham College, just across the state line in Indiana.
May 20, 2016
Mastodons of Unusual Size: Exploring variation in American mastodon populations
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To help move us forward, I'm matching the next 5 donations or donation increases, up to $1500. Spread the word and help us get this project funded!
May 04, 2016
Mastodons of Unusual Size: Exploring variation in American mastodon populations
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I gave a lecture on this project to the folks at the Order of the Eastern Star. Afterwards, they generously took up a cash collection to help the project, which I'm including here.
Apr 27, 2016
Mastodons of Unusual Size: Exploring variation in American mastodon populations
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