Intact Mastodon Tooth Discovered in California Creek

5:07 AM ETConfirmed

Science Desk

In Short: A paleontologist has found one of the most complete mastodon molars in the area, sparking excitement among researchers.

The tooth, about 8.5 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 7 inches deep, was originally mistaken for an oddly shaped rock by geomorphologist Brigid Lynch.

Upon closer inspection, it was identified as a Pacific mastodon molar, a significant find in the region.

The tooth's condition is described as 'immaculate,' with Wayne Thompson, a paleontologist, expressing chills and shivers at the discovery.

The find highlights the presence of mastodons in the area, which may have coexisted with now-extinct animals like dire wolves and saber-tooth cats.

What's confirmed

The tooth, about 8.5 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 7 inches deep, was originally mistaken for an oddly shaped rock by geomorphologist Brigid Lynch.
Upon closer inspection, it was identified as a Pacific mastodon molar, a significant find in the region.
The tooth's condition is described as 'immaculate,' with Wayne Thompson, a paleontologist, expressing chills and shivers at the discovery.
The find highlights the presence of mastodons in the area, which may have coexisted with now-extinct animals like dire wolves and saber-tooth cats.

“The tooth itself is in immaculate condition. It's the most complete mastodon molar from our area, and the most spectacular mastodon molar that I've ever seen. I had chills and shivers up and down my spine,” Wayne Thompson, a paleontologist and owner of Pacific Paleontology, said in the press release.
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.
The last thing geomorphologist Brigid Lynch expected to find while surveying a California creek was a fossilized mastodon tooth.
“It's another puzzle in the Ice Age saga that we can put into place.” Pacific mastodons were massive herbivores, similar to the woolly mammoth and modern-day elephants.
They lived during the Pleistocene epoch, about 2.5 million to 11,700 years ago, and have only recently been classified as a distinct species apart from the American mastodon.