A woman had a remarkable discovery while taking a stroll on Rio Del Mar State Beach in Santa Cruz County, California, last Memorial Day weekend. Jennifer Schuh spotted an unusual object sticking out of the sand that looked burned at first glance. She shared photos of her discovery on Facebook, asking for help to identify what she had found. Wayne Thompson, Paleontology Collections Advisor for the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, was able to confirm that it was a worn molar from an adult Pacific mastodon – an extinct elephant-like species. However, when they went back to the site, the tooth was gone. After they launched a social media campaign to find it, a kind-hearted jogger named Jim Smith discovered it during his regular jog along the beach. The tooth, which is at least 5,000 years old, was donated to the museum by Smith and will be on display from Friday through Sunday. This is only the third documented mastodon fossil discovery in the region, making it a significant find in understanding ancient life in the area.
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