It may have looked like a log to the untrained eye. Two years ago, scientists spotted a 3-foot (1-meter) long mammoth tusk off the California coast.
A research team at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute discovered the tusk in the depths of the ocean.
Daniel Fisher, a paleontologist at the University of Michigan, said in a press release that it's rare for mammoth fossils to nestle along the deep seafloor.
The Lower Paleolithic era is when the young female Columbian mammoth is thought to have lived. Researchers are still trying to figure out the creature's age, diet and how often it reproduces.
The New York Times reported that a researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz said that it was an "Indiana Jones" and "Jurassic Park" moment.
The discovery could signal the presence of other ancient animal fossils in the deep sea.
The scientists are in the lab cleaning the large piece of ivory. Darrin Shultz is a member of the MBARI.
Two years ago, scientists broke a piece of the mammoth tusk.
Scientists in Monterey Bay didn't expect to see a mammoth tusk in 2019. The research team was looking for deep-sea species with remotely operated vehicles.
Steven Haddock, senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, said in the press release that he was stunned that they came upon the ancient tusk of a mammoth.
The scientists decided to retrieve the tusk from the ocean floor, but the tip broke and they weren't able to collect the full specimen. The team went back to the site in July to get the rest of the artifact. They attached soft materials to the remotely operated vehicle and gingerly lifted the tusk using the vehicle's robotic arms.
Scientists used the larger sample of mammoth DNA from the full tusk to determine its species.
The Columbian mammoth is thought to be one of the largest creatures of its kind, likely the result of crossbreeding between a woolly mammoth and another mammoth species. It probably used its tusks to protect itself from other animals when it was in North America up to 10,000 years ago.
A section from the larger tusk fragment is being sliced by a paleontologist. Darrin Shultz is a member of the MBARI.
The deep sea's cool, high-pressure environment is ideal for preserving fossils.
Scientists are analyzing the radioisotopes of the tusk to find out how long the mammoth lived. Scientists can determine the age of the tusk based on how much of the thorium is still present in the artifact.
The technique suggests that the mammoth tusk is more than 100,000 years old.
Scientists think the ocean is to blame for the artifact's pristine condition.
On average, deep-sea temperatures are just above freezing. The rate of fossil decay is slowed by the cold climate, just like putting food in the freezer.
Fossils have a better chance of surviving in the deep sea's high-pressure environment because the underwater pressure in the ocean's deepest trenches is 1,100 times greater than the water's surface.
"If the tusk had been found on land, it would be difficult to understand its history," said a University of California, Santa Cruz associate professor.
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