A homeowner doing routine work on his backyard made a jaw-some discovery.
The owner of the home near Scotchtown, New York, found two teeth covered by the frontals of a plant on the property. Upon further digging, the resident uncovered two more tooth fossils that were just inches beneath the dirt, according to the New York State Museum on Tuesday.
‘When I found the teeth and examined them in my hands, I knew they were something special and decided to call in the experts,’ said the homeowner, whose identity was not revealed.
Museum and Orange County Community College (SUNY Orange) staff led an excavation effort and unearthed a complete and well-preserved adult mastodon jaw, and a rib fragment and toe bone on top of that.
It is the first whole mastodon jaw to be discovered in the Empire State in 11 years.
‘While the jaw is the star of the show, the additional toe and rib fragments offer valuable context and the potential for additional research,’ stated Dr Cory Harris, who is chair of SUNY Orange’s behavioral sciences department.
The team is planning to scour the surrounding area for any more parts of the prehistoric animal linked to elephants.
‘This mastodon jaw provides a unique opportunity to study the ecology of this magnificent species, which will enhance our understanding of the Ice Age ecosystems from this region,’ stated Dr Robert Feranec, the museum’s Ice Age animals curator and research and collections director.
Researchers will conduct carbon dating to analyze the creature’s age, diet and habitat, and the bones will then be integrated into public programming next year.
More than 150 mastodon fossil have been found statewide, with one-third of them in Orange County.
As the oldest and largest public museum in the US, the institution employs archaeologists, anthropologists, scientists and historians who have maintained more than 20million artifacts dating back 480million years.
‘This discovery highlights the Museum’s unwavering mission to empower vital scientific research that reveals the profound changes shaping our environment and inspiring actionable steps toward a more sustainable future,’ stated Michael Mastroianni, the interim deputy commissioner for cultural education.
Members of the public are encouraged to report any findings they believe may belong to ancient species.
The eagle-eyed homeowner said: ‘I’m thrilled that our property has yielded such an important find for the scientific community.’
It happened more than two-and-a-half years after a construction worker on the job at an Iowa community college discovered an 11-pound woolly mammoth tooth while excavating at the site.
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