Mammoth Fossil Found in Florida; Another Leg Bone Discovery in the State from Prehistoric Period

Another discovery of mammoth proportions has recently been reported in Florida. This is not the first time it happened in the state that mammoth fossils were found.

Niagara Gazette reported that Police Officer David Brooks from Cullman, Alabama was "diving in the shallow waters of Venice Beach" in Florida, known as The Shark Tooth Capital of the World, with eyes watchful for hidden treasures.

The officer said he had previously dived, along with other divers from the North Alabama Diver Center. As such, the recovered sharks' teeth and the giant teeth of the largest shark known as megalodons, as described in the National History Museum site, to ever prowl in the sea and are now extinct. Brooks added, they find objects like teeth, as well as other fossils.

On this August 7 dive, he noted that roughly four square inches of an object sticking up from the site was diving, approximately 30 feet underwater.

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Colombian Mammoth Leg Bone

Describing the new find, the police officer explained he didn't know what it was saying, "it kind of looked funny." He added, he noticed it was not a rock, and it was not something typical.

Therefore, Brooks began digging and showing more and more of the object. He said it turned out to be an almost intact Colombian mammoth leg bone resembling a tibia.

This is not the first time for a mammoth fossil to be discovered in the area, as the North Alabama Dive Center group has discovered pieces of tusks in the past.

However, they have never unveiled anything like the 30-inch, 50-pound leg bone broken that's broken into pieces.

According to Jennifer Parker, one of the two dive shop owners, the group's objective when they go is to search for teeth, sharks' teeth, megalodon teeth.

They have discovered prehistoric whale bones, a mammoth tusk, and bones from other animals, but they have never found an object like this.

Discovered in a Prehistoric River

Eric Parker, the dive shop owner, said the site where the mammoth leg bone was discovered was a prehistoric river that, according to this report, came out of Georgia, wounding through Florida and approximately 160 miles down to the old coastline.

He added they do not know if the river was deep and bones ended up there or if it was low. They lean more, though, of the shallow part as one can dig a few inches, and "you're in like river rock." Therefore, he elaborated, the mammoth probably died where it was discovered.

It took 45 minutes for Books to dig the leg bone out using his hands and a knife. One of the assistant dive instructors Coy Hipp, together with Books, helped reveal it and get the bone to the surface.

The mammoth leg bone, described by Jennifer as a once-in-a-lifetime object, is currently on display at North Alabama Dive Center.

As earlier mentioned, this is not the first time divers discovered a mammoth fossil. In May this year, Live Science reported that in Florida, specifically in the Pace River near Acadia, divers discovered a four-feet, 50-pound mammoth leg bone.

Report of this Pace River find is shown on ABC7 SWFL's YouTube video below: