Phillips confirmed the tusk belonged to a Columbian mammoth, a distant relative of the woolly mammoth.
But it was particularly exciting that it was a mammoth,” Templeton told CNN.
Holy cow, this is a mammoth tusk.’” While unearthing the fossil, the field scientists simultaneously covered the exposed bits with plaster to keep the fossil protected during extraction.
“I’m sure there have been pieces of mammoth tusk found in Mississippi, but probably not positively identified as mammoths just because they’re fragments.
But this is the first complete mammoth tusk found in Mississippi.
Eddie Templeton, a hobbyist fossil hunter, typically recognizes when he’s onto something. Since he was a young child, Templeton has combed the banks of creeks in Mississippi, finding a number of amazing fossilized mammal remains. These include the mandible of a mastodon, multiple bones from a large relative of the armadillo, and even a saber-toothed cat’s foot. However, his most recent finding might be the most surprising.
A massive tusk that was partially exposed from the mud bank was discovered by Templeton on August 3 while he was wading through a creek in Madison County that held about three feet (almost one meter) of water. He explained that the lack of exposed gravel bars and the obstruction of the water’s downstream flow made the conditions unfavorable for fossil hunting, so he hadn’t planned on finding anything particularly noteworthy that day. George Phillips, the paleontology curator at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, disproved him after discovering the 7-foot (2 point 1 meter) long tusk, which was found to be entirely intact.
According to Phillips, the tusk belonged to a Columbian mammoth, which is a distant relative of the woolly mammoth. According to Phillips, the fossil could be anywhere between 11,700 and 75,000 years old, as Columbian mammoths lived towards the end of the Pleistocene Epoch.
“Finding a sizable tusk fragment was undoubtedly exciting. But the fact that it was a mammoth added even more excitement, Templeton told CNN. It was even more exciting when the geologists arrived and we began to uncover it and discovered that it was the entire tusk, tip to base. As the day progressed, therefore, things only got better. “.
Only isolated Columbian mammoth teeth had previously been found in Mississippi, so Templeton’s discovery was unprecedented for the area and provided a “rare window” into the enormous ice age mammals that once roamed the region, according to a statement from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
finding mammoths in the Mississippi.
Although the massive Columbian mammoth, which weighed over 22,000 pounds (10 tons) and could reach heights of over 13 feet (4 meters), coexisted with the mastodon throughout North America, Phillips noted that the mammoth’s primary food source was grasses found in grassland biomes, which were uncommon at the time on what is now the East Coast of the United States. This makes finding its fossils in the region much more difficult.
We may find one mammoth tooth at most for every twenty-five pieces or complete teeth of the American mastodon. Therefore, mammoths are comparatively rare in relation to everything else as well as mastodons, according to Phillips.
Having discovered multiple remains of the animal on previous hunts, Templeton believed the enormous tusk belonged to a mastodon when he first came across it. The telltale curve of the fossil gave Templeton second thoughts, mainly after the state office of geology and the local museum assisted him in excavating the massive remains.
The tusks of common mastodons do not curve nearly as much as those of the Columbian mammoth, whose two could almost form a complete circle, according to Phillips. A full, intact tusk like the one found is extremely uncommon, he continued. The museum has many tooth fragments and even several complete mammoth teeth. There may even be some fragments of the giant mammal’s tusk that cannot be distinguished from the mastodon without the rest of the tusk.
“When I saw the picture, I was kind of speechless,” Phillips remarked. “All right, cool, a tusk,” I thought to myself. Look, look at how curved it is. This tusk, hooray, is enormous. “”.
In order to preserve the fossil during extraction, the field scientists plastered over the exposed portions of the fossil as they were uncovering it. According to Templeton, the tusks grew in rings like trees do, which increases the likelihood that the fossils will break apart after being removed from the moist deposits where they are found.
At the museum, experts will keep a close eye on the 600-pound (272-kg) tusk with the plaster jacket while it dries out and prepare it for preservation with a cohesive treatment. In addition, the delicate fossil that broke into two pieces during transit will need to be put back together by scientists. In the first week of March of the following year, Phillips hopes to have the tusk on display for the museum’s annual Fossil Road Show.
According to Templeton, “I believe that most people are interested in the past, and these ice age megafauna fascinate people.”. “There have undoubtedly been mammoth tusk fragments discovered in Mississippi, but given that they are only fragments, it’s unlikely that they have been conclusively identified as mammoths. However, this is Mississippi’s first complete mammoth tusk discovery. It’s quite cool, therefore. “.
