It was a fossil hunt with a happy ending. In Florida, a man was leading an expedition along the Peace River when he came across a strange object. At first, he mistook it for an ordinary branch, but soon realized that he had in his hands the remains of an animal that disappeared many years ago.
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A lucky fossil hunter
The Peace River is a prime site for fossil researchers. Many amateurs and professionals regularly go on expeditions there in the hope of stumbling across the fossilized remains of animals from yesteryear.
John Kreatsoulas is one of those fossil lovers. He even heads up Fossil Junkies, a company that organizes fossil hunts for the general public. And as he dove into the Peace River, one object caught his eye. Interviewed by NBC2, he recounts:
I held on to it just to hold on for a second, and realized it wasn't a tree, but a mammoth jaw.
Recovered fossil to be analyzed by experts
In fact, he was holding in his hands a real mammoth jawbone. Analysis will be carried out to determine the exact species, but in all likelihood, the mandible belonged to a Columbus mammoth.
According to Live Science:
Columbus mammoths (Mammuthus columbi) inhabited North America - and as far south as Costa Rica - during the Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago).
Once duly analyzed and dated, this mammoth fossil should be stored, not in John Kreatsoulas's home, but in a museum!
Read more:Our ancestors had a bone in their penis, here is why it disappeared
This article has been translated from Gentside FR.
