Oct 4, 2009 5:28 pm US/Eastern
Teenagers Find Rare Mastodon Fossils In Creek
KEN CARYL RANCH, Colo. (CBS) ―
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The mastodon mandible found by the teens.
CBS
Two 13-year-olds exploring a creek bed near their homes discovered a mastodon mandible and tusk that could be 150,000 years old, CBS station
The discovery this summer marks the third time that traces of a mastodon have been found in Colorado. The previous discoveries were a tooth fragment found in 1875 and a full molar found sometime before 1924.
The teenagers, Jake Carstensen and Tyler Kellett, were exploring near their homes in Ken Caryl Ranch when they found a large animal jaw in June. The pair did some searching on the Internet and realized that the mandible belonged to the American mastodon, a relative of the elephant.
"I think because mammoth are kind of common in Colorado, because it's a mastodon it's extremely important because mastodons are so rare in Colorado. I think it's just amazing to find this," Carstensen said.
"It's one of the best experiences I've had in my life," he said.
A museum curator confirmed the boys' conclusion, and further exploration of the creek unearthed a five-foot segment of the animal's tusk. The findings were donated to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
"It's a giant tooth. It's about 8 inches long and about 3 inches wide," said Kirk Johnson, chief curator of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. "This is one of the bigger teeth we've found on the planet and these guys found it in Colorado."
Experts figure the geologic layer where the boys found the tooth dates back 50,000-150,000 years.
More digs of the area are planned -- possibly in the Spring. In the meantime, Carstensen and Kellett are thinking about a career in paleontology.
"That would be a really fun career -- digging up stuff," Kellett said.
"Everything about things that are old interests me now," Carstensen said.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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