A geologist conducting routine field surveys in a San Mateo County preserve stumbled onto a fossilized Pacific mastodon molar in "immaculate condition", a find paleontologists are calling the most complete specimen ever recovered from the region. Brigid Lynch discovered the tooth partially submerged in a wooded creek bed while working on a California red-legged frog […] The post Fossilized mastodon tooth surfaces in California creek bed, stunning paleontologists appeared first on American Almanac .
A geologist conducting routine field surveys in a San Mateo County preserve stumbled onto a fossilized Pacific mastodon molar in "immaculate condition", a find paleontologists are calling the most complete specimen ever recovered from the region. Brigid Lynch discovered the tooth partially submerged in a wooded creek bed while working on a California red-legged frog habitat restoration project in a Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains. She initially thought it was an oddly shaped rock. It was not. Paleontologists later confirmed the fossil was an intact upper left third molar from an adult Pacific mastodon, ABC News reported . The tooth measures roughly 8.5 inches long, 7 inches deep, and 3 inches…Open
A scientist working to save a threatened frog species stumbled across a fossilized Pacific mastodon molar in a San Mateo County creek bed, a find experts are calling the most complete specimen of its kind from the region. Brigid Lynch, a geomorphologist at the consulting firm Balance Hydrologics, was surveying a wooded creek inside a […] The post Geomorphologist finds remarkably preserved mastodon tooth in San Francisco Bay Area creek appeared first on American Almanac .
A scientist working to save a threatened frog species stumbled across a fossilized Pacific mastodon molar in a San Mateo County creek bed, a find experts are calling the most complete specimen of its kind from the region. Brigid Lynch, a geomorphologist at the consulting firm Balance Hydrologics, was surveying a wooded creek inside a Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains earlier this year when she spotted the nine-inch tooth sitting in plain sight. She was there for a habitat restoration project aimed at protecting the California red-legged frog, a threatened species. Instead, she found the remains of an animal that vanished from North America between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago. Lynch told…Open
A scientist surveying a California creek bed for a frog habitat project accidentally discovered a pristinely preserved Pacific Mastodon tooth estimated to be 2.5 million years old, now headed to Stanford University for research. Brigid Lynch, a geomorphologist with Balance Hydrologics, was picking through rocks in a San Mateo County creek bed when one caught […] The post Geomorphologist stumbles onto 2.5-million-year-old mastodon molar in California creek bed appeared first on American Almanac .
A scientist surveying a California creek bed for a frog habitat project accidentally discovered a pristinely preserved Pacific Mastodon tooth estimated to be 2.5 million years old, now headed to Stanford University for research. Brigid Lynch, a geomorphologist with Balance Hydrologics, was picking through rocks in a San Mateo County creek bed when one caught her eye. She photographed the oddly shaped stone and moved on. The next day, reviewing the image, she realized she wasn't looking at a rock at all. It was a mastodon molar, an upper left third molar from a beast that roamed Ice Age California. The accidental find, The Sun reported , has now been donated to Stanford University's Doerr School of Sustainability, where researchers plan to…Open