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It was the find of a lifetime.

A softball-sized molar peeked out from the soft dirt, barely distinguishable except for a pearlized edge. As Russell Shapiro and the team gently began to pick away at the surrounding soil, a skull started to emerge, with more teeth jutting up from the jaw’s craggy border.

Then, a gently curving tusk started teasing its way toward the sunlight.

Ever-so-carefully, they pushed forward, hoping it would be intact. By the time they reached the end of the fossilized bone, all indicators pointed to not one but two six-foot spans. Perfect mastodon tusks. Likely dating back 8 million years. And the first known species of its kind to be discovered in this part of Northern California.

“What you hope to find is a tip of a tusk,” said Shapiro, a professor of paleontology and stratigraphy in the Geological and Environmental Sciences Department. “Not only do we have the tip, but we have the entire thing. And it’s just beautiful ivory. It’s mind-blowing.”

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Originally posted by pianojuggler:
Could have been one of Doug's kills.

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Originally posted by BeeLady:
Cool.

But everytime I hear of California and prehistoric discoveries, I cannot stop thinking of this song that was played often while we lived there... It features the LaBrea Tar Pits

Pico and Sepulveda