A Texas-sized excavation effort is underway to dig up the fossils of one of the most well-known prehistoric species, following a surprise discovery by two Texans.
As reported by Waco’s KWTX, Sabrina Solomon said she and her friend stumbled upon some ancient remains in June while fishing at a lake.
“I was walking up that hill with all the clay, it was really wet and slippery and I ended up falling, coming face to face with the specimen,” Solomon told the media outlet.
Solomon thought it was a dinosaur fossil at first and soon alerted park rangers, who suspected the remains belonged to a mammoth instead. An instructor from Tarleton State University’s Geoscience Department went to the site and confirmed the park rangers’ conclusion.
Woolly mammoths used to roam the region 20,000 years ago. They’re known to have thick fur, short ears and tails, and especially curved tusks that can grow as long as 14 ft.
According to the excavation team, the bones found in Texas belonged to a 40-year-old male Columbian mammoth that was roughly 13 feet tall and weighed around 20,000 lbs.
The digging efforts are joined by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tarleton State Geoscience Department, and the Waco Mammoth National Monument. After two of the mammoth’s teeth were taken and returned to the police, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided to keep the location confidential to prevent future tampering.
The excavation team also receives help from some Tarleton State students and paleontologist Dr. Lindsey Yann from the Waco Mammoth National Monument. They have so far found a skull, an arm born, and a part of the mammoth’s spine.
In an interview with KWTX, Dr. Yann said, “It’s so hard to imagine them walking through your backyard, so every time we find one in your backyard, it kind of triggers the imagination.”
The fossils are expected to be kept and analyzed at Tarleton State University when the excavation is complete.
