Ice Age-Era Mastodon Tooth Found in Northern California Beach, But Went Missing Shortly After Its Discovery

After an impressive mastodon tooth measuring nearly 12 inches was found on a Rio Del Mar beach, it was acquired by the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. However, the fossil went missing temporarily until it was located again with the help of media attention and a considerate jogger.

Finding the Missing Tooth

Jennifer Schuh found the mastodon tooth from the Ice Age era on a North California beach, but mistakenly left it in the sand, thinking it was driftwood. She took a picture of the tooth and shared it on Facebook, where it caught the attention of local paleontologists. However, when they reached out to Schuh, the tooth was nowhere to be found.

Wayne Thompson, the paleontology collections adviser at the history museum, told KRON that Schuh left the fossil on the beach after taking a photo without knowing what it was. He noted that it was understandable as it looks like a piece of firewood.

The tooth, measuring approximately 12 inches, was discovered near the mouth of Aptos Creek by Schuh, who was visiting the area. She didn't recognize the significance of the object and left it where she found it. Schuh's Facebook post of the photos led to its identification as a mastodon tooth and sparked a search for the missing artifact.

It is suspected that another beachgoer may have taken the tooth, mistaking it for petrified wood. After an extensive search by community members over the Memorial Day weekend, the missing mastodon tooth was finally found by Jim Smith, a longtime resident of Aptos, during his regular Tuesday morning jog.

He promptly delivered the tooth to the museum, bringing relief and excitement to the community, Mercury News reported. Tamara LaTorree expressed her joy and relief on Facebook, commenting that the news was "awesome" and that the discovery answered her pondering about what might have happened to the tooth.

The tooth belonged to a Pacific Mastodon, and its disappearance is a disappointment for paleontologists eager to study the Ice Age relic.

Interestingly, this discovery comes years after the first mastodon remains were found at the same beach in Santa Cruz County. The incident highlights the importance of recognizing and preserving valuable historical artifacts, even if their significance may not be immediately apparent.

More About Mastodons

Mastodons were ancient relatives of elephants and woolly mammoths, belonging to the order Proboscidea. According to Live Science, they had tusks, flappy ears, and long noses, similar to modern elephants.

While mammoths appeared about 5.1 million years ago in Africa, mastodons emerged around 27 to 30 million years ago in North and Central America. Mastodons were slightly smaller than mammoths and had different eating habits. They had blunt, cone-shaped molars for crushing vegetation, while mammoths had ridged molars for cutting plants.

Unlike modern elephants, mastodons had smaller ears and foreheads, and they were covered in a thick layer of brown hair. The hairs on their coats could grow up to 35 inches, and males had tusks that could reach about 8 feet in length, while females did not have tusks.

In terms of size, mastodons were between 8 and 10 feet tall and weighed between 4 and 6 tons. This is comparable to modern elephants, which weigh 3 to 7 tons and range from 5 to 14 feet tall.

These ancient mammals became extinct approximately 10,000 years ago. The reasons for their extinction are subject to various theories, but the prevailing explanations revolve around climate change and human hunting.

Check out more news and information on Paleontology in Science Times.