Man finds mammoth tusks in a Mississippi Creek
But finding it was only the first of many hurdles to recovering this rare specimen. But finding it was only the first of many hurdles to recovering the rare specimen.
Although woolly mammoths and mastodons often draw most cultural attention, the two species were far from the only elephant ancestors to roam North America. The Columbian mammoth was the biggest. Mammuthus collumbi, which stood at nearly 14 feet tall and weighed around 10 tons when standing on its shoulders, remained giants of the Ice Age until they were eventually wiped out around 12,700 BCE. The grassland grazing preference of the modern Mississippi mammoths has led to fewer than their relatives. The fossilized mammoth teeth found in the Deep South over the years prove that they did indeed make it there. The only teeth that Mississippi researchers had were the fossilized teeth of Eddie Templeton, who decided to go for a walk. Credit: James Starnes / MDEQ
Templeton noticed a large relic sticking out from a clay and sand embankment while traversing muddy creek. While traversing a muddy creek, Templeton noticed a sizable relic sticking out from a clay and sand embankment.
“It was exciting. I knew it was a tusk,” Templeton told the local newspaper.
But given mammoths’ Mississippi rarity, he initially believed the fossilized ivory belonged to a smaller mastodon. After enlisting the help of the Mississippi State Geological Survey (MSGS), however, it became clear Templeton had come across something much more elusive.
“It was suspected based on the strong curvature of the massive tusk that Eddie and the team were dealing with a Columbian mammoth and not that of the more common mastodon,” Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) researchers explained in an announcement.
The Columbian mammoth could reach 15-feet-tall at the shoulders. Credit: James Starnes / MDEQ
The team had to act quickly. MDEQ states that prolonged exposure to Mississippi’s hot afternoon sun can easily dry the specimen out and cause it to be destroyed. Templeton, along with researchers, began excavating by hand the fossil tusk for the remainder of the day. The final result was a 7-foot-long, completely intact fossil. After taking photos of the tusk in its original resting spot, workers prepared it for transport by covering it with aluminum foil. After that, the tusk was covered in burlap soaked with plaster to form a protective casting. The field scientists found that the tusk was likely originally leaning against the sandbar of an ancient stream with a part submerged. Alluvium covered the entire tusk at some point. This could have been caused by major flooding from storms. Because of this, it’s likely the mammoth died nearby before the waters carried its remains downstream.
Once protected from the sun, the team faced yet another challenge–transporting the roughly 600-pound ivory up a nearly vertical 50-foot bluff, where it could be loaded onto a truck. According to MDEQ, the solution could be found in an ATV ramp they turned into a “makeshift gurney.” After emerging from the creek, the tusk could finally make its way to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, where it now remains for additional study and curation.
In an email to Popular Science, MDEQ geologist James Starnes described the event as an “important ice-age paleontological find for Mississippi.”
The tusk’s new, protected home is also a fitting end for an ancient giant that, while not necessarily as famous as its relatives, was crucial in the region’s environmental health.
“These colossal mammals played an important role in maintaining the rich fertile prairie ecosystem, much as their modern elephant relatives do in other parts of the world today,” said MDEQ representatives.
