2023-12-20 06:27:30
Coal miners in North Dakota state of the US hit a jackpot, as they found a rare fossil of an ancient mammoth. The discovery was made earlier this year when they stumbled upon a seven-foot-long tusk in a well-preserved state.
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The discovery is not new for the state, especially when mammoths have lived in North Dakota since the Ice Age. What made it different was that it was the first fossil found in the state that was in its complete form.
“Most of the mammoth fossils known from North Dakota are isolated bones and teeth,” said Clint Boyd, a senior palaeontologist for the NDGS. “This specimen is one of the most complete mammoth skeletons discovered in North Dakota, making it an exciting and scientifically important discovery.”
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The fossil was discovered at the Freedom Mine near Beulah over the Memorial Day weekend, said the North Dakota Geological Survey (NDGS) in a press release Monday.
Rare mammoth fossil discovered in North Dakota
A team led by palaeontologists from the NDGS recovered more than twenty bones from the mammoth skeleton, including ribs, a shoulder blade, a tooth, and parts of the hips. It took them 12 days to carefully excavate the old streambed where the skeleton was buried.
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After being stabilized in protective plaster jackets, the bones were transported to the Paleontology Lab at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum in Bismarck, North Dakota. The next step will be to get rid of the attached sediment and stabilise the delicate bones, which will require a slow and meticulous process of cleaning.
Once the bones are fully cleaned, palaeontologists will be able to identify which species these fossils belong to.
While that work continues, staff from the NDGS and the Freedom Mine are working together to develop a plan to integrate these fossils into an educational outreach program.
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The goal is to educate as many people as possible about the fossil and show them this specimen. It will help people learn what it tells us about life in North Dakota during the Ice Age.
Mammoths lived in North Dakota during the Pleistocene Epoch, commonly called the Ice Age, and went extinct around 10,000 years ago. Several species of mammoth lived in North America, including the Woolly Mammoth and the Columbian Mammoth. They lived alongside other iconic animals like sabre-toothed tigers and giant sloths.
(With inputs from agencies)
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