North Dakota Geological Survey paleontologist Jeff Person sits behind a 7-foot mammoth tusk Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023, at the Geological Survey offices in Bismarck, N.D. /AP Photo/Jack Dura
CHILDREN’S AREA – Miners discovered this tusk in an old stream bed, about 40 feet below the surface, in the Freedom Mine near Beulah, North Dakota. The 45,000-acre (18,210-hectare) surface mine produces up to 16 million tons (14.5 million tons) of lignite coal per year.
After finding the tusk, the crew stopped digging in the area and called in experts, who estimated that it was between 10,000 and 100,000 years old.
Jeff Person, a paleontologist with the North Dakota Geological Survey, was among those who responded.
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He expressed surprise that the mammoth tusk did not suffer further damage, considering the heavy equipment used at the site.
“It’s a miracle that he came out almost unscathed,” Person said, as quoted by AP’s ZonaPriangan.com.
Further excavations at the discovery site uncovered more bones. Person described it as a “stream of discoveries,” more than 20 bones, including shoulders, ribs, teeth and part of a hip.
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However, it is probably the most complete mammoth discovered in North Dakota, where it is more common to find isolated mammoth bones, teeth, or partial tusks.
2024-01-07 10:12:03
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