GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The time has finally come for the reveal of the Clapp Family Mastodon at the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM).

The museum has officially invited the community to come meet its "new neighbor" on Thursday, Sept. 11.

The first mastodon bone was unearthed by a construction crew working on a drainage project in Kent City in August 2022.

Staff from GRPM and the University of Michigan were called to the site and worked to uncover the skeleton. About 130 bones, or 70% of the skeleton, were successfully recovered.

Museum officials have called the skeleton "remarkably complete."

After the bones were fully recovered, they spent a year and a half drying in the museum's collections.

A team from Research Casting International scanned each bone to create a 3D model. Mountin

See Full Page