How a newly-discovered mastodon jaw became a mammoth mystery
by Jeanne Timmons from on (#3212N)
Dr Chris Widga and his team thought the remains they were excavating were 'just another mastodon'. But when the jaw appeared, it was unlike anything the team had ever seen. What exactly could it be?
He'd been offering tantalising hints throughout his presentation: an ulna here; a large femur there; a calculated weight of 16 tons for this animal. But it wasn't until he showed an image of the excavated jaw that some of us became really excited.
This wasn't a typical mastodon.