Alpine, Texas – Deer hunting on a Western Texas ranch discovered rare mammoth tusks, according to a press release from the Big Bend Studies Center.
The unusual discovery took place at O2 Ranch, a privately owned ranch in Brewster and Presidio counties.
“I’m skeptical when I showed them pictures of what I thought deer hunting was a fossil,” said Jewett, the manager of O2 Ranch.
Juett contacted several researchers at the Big Bend Studies Center who reached out to graduate students at the University of Kansas, who specialize in environmental archaeology.
Researchers, graduate students and two anthropology professors met at the ranch to further explore their findings.
“It paid off a huge amount of time,” Jutt said. “When I saw what they revealed, I couldn’t believe it.”
Researchers quickly confirmed that the finding was a real mammoth fang, according to the release.
“We realised pretty quickly that there couldn’t be any more in the skeleton: it was an isolated fang separated from the rest of the bodies,” one of the researchers said.
When researchers use advanced technology to examine discoveries, they ignite their imagination, the release says.
“Now I can’t help but imagine a giant animal wandering around the hills of the O2 Ranch,” Jutt said. “My next thought is constantly thinking about people who faced those giant fangs with only stone tools in their hands.”
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