Rare mastodon fossil found in San Mateo County creek

Key Points:

• Brigid Lynch discovered a well-preserved molar from a Pacific mastodon, an extinct Ice Age elephant species, while walking through a redwood forest creek in San Mateo County, California.
• The molar, about the size of a toaster, is one of the most complete mastodon teeth ever found in the Bay Area and is now housed at Stanford University for further study, including carbon dating to determine its age and environmental context.
• Pacific mastodons, distinct from mammoths, roamed the region up to 11,000 years ago during the Ice Age, a period when the Bay Area had a vastly different landscape with lower sea levels and abundant Ice Age megafauna.
• The discovery, made during ecological research to restore endangered frogs, has inspired local conservation staff and highlights the rich prehistoric biodiversity of the area, although the exact location of the find is being kept confidential to prevent fossil hunting.
• Experts emphasize the rarity of such accidental fossil finds and note that the tooth likely washed out from upstream land during recent storms, offering valuable insights into the Ice Age ecosystem and the animals that once inhabited the region.