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All the United States California San Jose Lupe the Mammoth

Lupe the Mammoth

A life-sized mammoth sculpture marks the spot where the remains of a Columbian mammoth were discovered in 2005.

San Jose, California

Added By
James Ricci
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  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
  causeiwander / Atlas Obscura User
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
circa 2021   Avoiding Regret
Lupe the Mammoth at entry to Lower Guadalupe River Trail   yzsutty / Atlas Obscura User
Lupe the Mammoth welcoming trail visitors   yzsutty / Atlas Obscura User
  causeiwander / Atlas Obscura User
Wooly Boi   godsoldier91 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

In 2005, a 44-year-old truck mechanic named Roger Castillo was walking his dog along the Guadalupe River. The San Jose native was no stranger to the river, having fished it as a boy, and remaining a citizen scientist of the river into adulthood. But on this particular walk, when his dog started poking around the side of the embankment, Castillo saw something nobody had ever seen in the river: the bones of a Columbian mammoth.

Castillo alerted a San Jose State University geologist, along with the owners of the property. With the help of scientists from UC Berkeley’s Museum of Paleontology, the protrusions from the river bank were determined to be the tusks of a 12,500-year-old juvenile Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi), and the most complete remains of a mammoth ever found in Santa Clara county.

The mammoth remains were excavated and are now part of an exhibit at the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose. Along the bike path, just north of the San Jose Mineta International Airport, the site of the discovery is marked by an 11-foot-tall bent pipe sculpture of a Columbian mammoth. Designed by Freyja Bardell and Brian Howe of Greenmeme, it weighs nearly 12,000 pounds.

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Sculptures Animals Science

Know Before You Go

The sculpture does not have designated parking, but a relatively wide shoulder is nearby on Trimble Road. The easiest way to access the area, however, would probably be by bicycling or walking along the Guadalupe River Trail.

Community Contributors

Added By

James Ricci

Edited By

dirtcat, Avoiding Regret, yzsutty, godsoldier91...

  • dirtcat
  • Avoiding Regret
  • yzsutty
  • godsoldier91
  • causeiwander

Published

February 20, 2017

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Sources
  • http://www.mercurynews.com/2015/07/09/enormous-silvery-mammoth-arrives-on-guadalupe-river-trail/
  • https://www.cdm.org/mammothdiscovery/discovery.html
  • https://greenmeme.com/LUPE
Lupe the Mammoth
441 W Trimble Rd
San Jose, California
United States
37.382804, -121.935373
Get Directions

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