Just beneath the surface of a homeowner’s lawn in New York, a historic—or perhaps more correctly, prehistoric—discovery was made.
According to state officials, a full mastodon jaw was discovered in the backyard of a house in the town of Scotchtown, Orange County. The state Education Department said in a press release Tuesday that experts from SUNY Orange and the New York State Museum had retrieved the jaw and other bone fragments.
According to the officials, it was the first discovery of its sort in New York in over 11 years.
After the homeowner noticed the mastodon jaw emerging from his lawn, experts discovered what was thought to be an adult’s jaw. On the land, the homeowner first discovered two teeth concealed by a plant. Two more teeth were discovered after excavating only a few inches beneath the first two.
According to the homeowner, “I knew they were something special when I found the teeth and examined them in my hands and decided to call in the experts.”
Following that, excavations were performed by museum and university staff, who discovered the well-preserved jaw of the mastodon, an extinct relative of current elephants. According to officials, a part of ribs and a bit of toe bone were also discovered.
The additional toe and rib fragments provide important background and the possibility for further research, even if the jaw is the main attraction, according to Dr. Cory Harris, Chair of SUNY Orange’s Behavioral Sciences Department. In order to determine whether any more bones were saved, we also intend to investigate the surrounding environment.
The discovery will be broadcast in public television beginning in 2025, officials said, adding that the bones will be subjected to carbon dating and study to ascertain the exact age of the mammal’s roaming, its nutrition, and the specifics of its environment.
According to Dr. Robert Feranec, director of Research & Collections and curator of Ice Age Animals at the New York State Museum, this discovery is evidence of the city’s rich paleontological past and the continuous efforts to comprehend it. Our knowledge of the Ice Age ecosystems from this area will be improved by the unique chance this mastodon jaw offers to investigate the ecology of this remarkable species.
Approximately one-third of the 150 mastodon fossils discovered in New York to date have been discovered in Orange County.
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