GOT TEETH

Paleontologists Make Stunning 10,000-Year-Old Ice Age Discovery

It’s given scientists a lot to chew on.

A researcher has found the giant 10,000-year-old tooth of an extinct Ice Age mammal. Geomorphologist Brigid Lynch was conducting field studies in San Mateo County in California in June when she found what appeared to be an oddly shaped rock nestled in the dirt, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District said on Wednesday. Instead, what she found was a molar from a Pacific mastodon, a hairy ancestor of today’s elephant that used to roam the West Coast during the Pleistocene epoch. That period began around 2.5 million years ago and ended just 11,700 years ago. “As a geologist, I’ve gone out and seen stuff in the field, but definitely nothing as exciting as this,” Lynch said. “The tooth itself is in immaculate condition. It’s the most complete mastodon molar from our area, and the most spectacular mastodon molar that I’ve ever seen,” Pacific Paleontology owner and paleontologist Wayne Thompson said. “I had chills and shivers up and down my spine,’ he added. ‘It’s another puzzle in the Ice Age saga that we can put into place.”