New York State Museum / SUNY Orange

From New York comes the story of a complete adult mastodon jaw unearthed during yard work.

The jaw, along with additional bone fragments and teeth, was recovered by researchers from the New York State Museum and are scheduled for carbon dating and comprehensive analysis to determine the mastodon’s age, diet, and habitat during its lifetime.

The homeowner from Orange County found two teeth concealed by the fronds of a plant on their property. Upon further investigation, the homeowner unearthed two additional teeth just inches underground.

Excavation efforts by museum staff and faculty from SUNY Orange community college yielded a full, well-preserved mastodon jaw belonging to an adult individual, as well as a piece of a toe bone and a rib fragment.

In a statement, the museum said the discovery would aid in the understanding of the region’s Ice Age inhabitants while also highlighting the abundance of prehistoric wonders yet to be discovered. With over 150 mastodon fossils found statewide to date—about one-third in Orange County—the area remains New York’s premier hotspot for these ancient relatives of modern elephants.

“This discovery is a testament to the rich paleontological history of New York and the ongoing efforts to understand its past,” said Dr. Robert Feranec, director of Research & Collections and curator of Ice Age Animals at the New York State Museum. “This mastodon jaw provides a unique opportunity to study the ecology of this magnificent species, which will enhance our understanding of the Ice Age ecosystems from this region.”

The American mastodon diverged from elephants and mammoths 27 million years ago, and died out around 11,000 years ago. In their pomp, they could grow to reach 10 feet tall (2.5 to 3 meters) and weigh around 6 tons (5,400 kg). Multiple hypotheses exist to explain why they went extinct, and paleontologists generally chalk it up to several of them at once.

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Mastodon remains are much rarer than those of North American mammoth species. Orange County is a hot bed of mastodon bones; responsible for one-third of all such finds in the state. This discovery is the first of its kind in 11 years.

Santa Cruz, California is another, where a woman found a mastodon tooth on a beach while running last year. She left it there and shared instead a picture of it on social media to see if anyone knew what it was. When a museum employee told her what she had passed up, she raced back to the place she found it only to learn someone else had taken it home with them.

That person eventually donated it to a museum.

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Dr. Cory Harris Chair of SUNY Orange’s Behavioral Sciences Department added that the excavation team are also hoping to further explore the immediate area to see if there are any additional bones that were preserved.

Following preservation and scientific analysis, the artifact will be featured in public programming in 2025.

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