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Fossilized Mastodon Tooth Found in California Creek in Immaculate Condition
Confirmed
In Short: A rare and well-preserved mastodon tooth, believed to be from the Pacific mastodon species, has been discovered in a California creek, sparking excitement among paleontologists.
A fossilized mastodon tooth, originally mistaken for an oddly shaped rock, has been found in a creek in California, in what paleontologists are calling one of the most intact Pacific mastodon molars discovered in the area.
Wayne Thompson, a paleontologist and owner of Pacific Paleontology, described the tooth as 'in immaculate condition,' noting that it's the most complete mastodon molar found in the region and the most spectacular he has ever seen.
The tooth, about 8.5 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 7 inches deep, was discovered by geomorphologist Brigid Lynch during a survey of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in San Mateo County, focused on the threatened California red-legged frog.
The find highlights the presence of mastodons in the area, which were massive herbivores similar to woolly mammoths and modern elephants, and lived during the Pleistocene epoch, about 2.5 million to 11,700 years ago. Experts believe Pacific mastodons lived throughout California, Oregon, the Northern Rocky Mountains, and parts of the western U.S.
The tooth's discovery underscores the importance of ongoing paleontological research in understanding the Ice Age fauna and the diets of these ancient creatures, as well as the potential for more significant finds in the region.
What's confirmed
- A fossilized mastodon tooth, originally mistaken for an oddly shaped rock, has been found in a creek in California, in what paleontologists are calling one of the most intact Pacific mastodon molars discovered in the area.
- Wayne Thompson, a paleontologist and owner of Pacific Paleontology, described the tooth as 'in immaculate condition,' noting that it's the most complete mastodon molar found in the region and the most spectacular he has ever seen.
- The tooth, about 8.5 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 7 inches deep, was discovered by geomorphologist Brigid Lynch during a survey of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in San Mateo County, focused on the threatened California red-legged frog.
- The find highlights the presence of mastodons in the area, which were massive herbivores similar to woolly mammoths and modern elephants, and lived during the Pleistocene epoch, about 2.5 million to 11,700 years ago. Experts believe Pacific mastodons lived throughout California, Oregon, the Northern Rocky Mountains, and parts of the western U.S.
- The tooth's discovery underscores the importance of ongoing paleontological research in understanding the Ice Age fauna and the diets of these ancient creatures, as well as the potential for more significant finds in the region.
What's still developing
- In the region where Lynch found the tooth, common wildlife such as mountain lions and bobcats currently hunt for prey.
- According to the press release, the ancestors of those animals may have hunted alongside now-extinct animals such as dire wolves or saber-tooth cats.
- Read More : Early Americans Got Nearly 98 Percent of Their Calories From Mammoths and Other Large Mammals According to ABC, the tooth is about 8.5 inches long, 3 inches wide, and about 7 inches deep.
- “This highlights for me that the presence of mastodons wasn't that long ago, in geologic time,” said Midpen biologist Matt Sharp Chaney in the press release.
- In contrast to American mastodons, Pacific mastodons had narrower teeth, different tusks, and thicker leg bones.
- "It is perhaps the most spectacularly well-preserved mastodon molar We’ve ever seen found locally here in the Bay Area to date," the group shared on Facebook.