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Rare Ice Age mastodon tooth discovered in Bay Area creek
Los Angeles Times • • science
Key Points:
- A remarkably preserved Pacific mastodon molar, believed to be at least 10,000 years old, was discovered in a creek bed in San Mateo County, California, by a geomorphologist conducting habitat surveys.
- The fossil, described as the most complete and spectacular mastodon molar found in the area, was donated to Stanford University for carbon dating and 3-D scanning to aid research and public education.
- The Pacific mastodon (Mammut pacificus), officially recognized as a distinct species since 2019, lived during the Pleistocene epoch and is differentiated from the American mastodon by narrower teeth, thicker leg bones, and different tusks.
- Mastodons were browsers feeding on woody plants, coexisting with other extinct species such as Jefferson’s ground sloths, Columbian mammoths, and western camels in ancient California.
- Similar recent discoveries include a Pacific mastodon molar found in 2023 near Santa Cruz, highlighting ongoing interest and research into Ice Age megafauna in the region.
