Scientist stumbles across massive ancient tooth while surveying a San Mateo County preserve

A scientist accidentally discovered a jaw-dropping Ice Age fossil –– an ancient molar tooth –– while conducting field surveys in San Mateo County.Brigid Lynch, a geomorphologist with Balance Hydrologics, was working on a project in a Midpeninsula Regional Open Space preserve to enhance the habitat for the threatened California red-legged frog when she stumbled upon an unusual rock in a creek bed.“I was down in the creek bed surveying rocks when I came across it and thought — that one is very weirdly shaped,” Lynch said in a statement last week.California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.

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Never miss a story She took a photo of the rock and continued with her survey.A day later, when she was reviewing the photograph, Lynch learned that it was an exceptionally preserved upper left third molar belonging to an ancient Pacific mastodon estimated to be in its early 40s.“As a geologist, I’ve gone out and seen stuff in the field, but definitely nothing as exciting as this,” she added.The Pacific mastodon, once thought to be identical to the widespread American mastodon, is the newest species of mastodon to be recognized.

Recent genetic and anatomical studies revealed that Pacific mastodons were distinct, with narrower teeth and thicker leg bones.“The tooth itself is in immaculate condition.It’s the most complete mastodon molar from our area, and the most spectacular mastodon molar that I’ve ever seen,” said Wayne Thompson, paleontologist and owner of Pacific Paleontology.

The tooth has been donated to Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability’s collection and will be made available to researchers who plan to use carbon dating to determine when the mastodon lived, its exact diet and the local climate conditions of its era.“I had chills and ...