Mastodon emerges from a Virginia creek, three decades after first remains found

Analysis of the ancient mammal's fossilised remains will help scientists study long-term climate trends and the ecosystems of the Holocene era

At least 12,000 years ago, a mastodon with a toothache died on top of a pile of seashells beside a creek near what is now Yorktown, Virginia. The flesh decayed, leaving teeth and bones that were gradually covered by sediment from the creek. Over the years, the bones of other mastodons in Virginia dissolved. But this one was in just the right place to survive.

In 1983, a brick mason named Lawnell Hart was out hunting when he spotted an enormous tooth in the creek. Hart showed the site to Gerald Johnson, a geologist at the College of William and Mary.

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