‘Old Stump’ in Texas incredibly rare mammoth tusk

While hunting in West Texas, a deer hunter stained a strange object in his bed in a creek. Fosil can be, took a photo and showed a Ranch manager.

“I approached skeptics,” said O2 Ranch Manager Juett, Sül Ross State University statement. “I thought it was just an old stump, but I imagined how big it would be if it was right.”

The deer hunter was right and the discovery was more than great, because it was no castle. The research team identified him as a mammoth TUSK, found it incredibly rare for West Texas.

After seeing the photograph of the hunter, Juett has contacted the Great Bend Studies Center (CBBS) Director Bryon Schroeder and Archaeologist Erika Blecha. In turn, Haley Bjorklund, a student of Kansas Aspire student specializing in the field of environmental archeology, reached the Haley Bjorklund, the Kansas graduate student. After joining the other two anthropologists, the researchers came together in Rancha to investigate what the hunter found. The team quickly identified the example as a mammoth tusk.

“When they confirm that they reveal, I could not believe it,” Juett said. Unfortunately, Mammoth Tusk was isolated, that is, the researchers did not detect any other mammoth remains. In two days, the team wrapped in Burap, covered with gypsum, and set up a support framework to safely transport SRSU to SRSU. Now researchers, including radiocarbon dating, including radiocarbon dating – Mammoth is planned to study a standard technique used to determine the age of organic material.

“A local doctorate wrote later, he said he was found in Fort Stockton in the 1960s,” he said. “After that, there was a big mistake (carbon dating) back at that time. Now we can lower it to a narrow range in 500 years.”

If the statement was not called a specified mammoth type, TUSK may belong to a Colombian mammothThe more familiar woelly mammal is a distant cousin. Shaggy elephant can be 13 feet in height (almost 4 meters) and 10 tons.

Columbian mammoths has disappeared before disappearing in the regions of North America, including modern Texas, 11,700 years ago Many other ice cycle mammals. The reason for the disappearance of the Icocion megafauna dog of the ice era remains a warm discussion, scientists are often climate change and human hunter can play a role.

“We see that this mammoth tuski brings out the ancient world only,” Juett said. “Now I can’t help, but think that the giant animal walking around the hills in O2 Ranch is always about people who are against these great tuses with a stone tool in the hands.”