Paleontologist Guy Darrough joins to discuss his team’s discovery of the Parrosaurus Missouriensis fossil in Missouri.
BREWSTER COUNTY, Texas – A routine deer hunting trip in West Texas took an unexpected turn when a hunter unearthed what experts have confirmed to be a mammoth tusk.
O2 Ranch Manager Will Juett was skeptical when the hunter showed him a picture of what he thought was a fossil that he had found in the ranch’s private rugged terrain of Brewster and Presidio counties.
“I figured it was likely just an old stump, but imagined how great it would be if he was right,” he said.
Juett contacted researchers at the Center for Big Bend Studies (CBBS) at Sul Ross State University (SRSU) in Alpine, who were eager to investigate the potential fossil. A team then ventured to the ranch to examine the find under the direction of Dr. Bryon Schroeder, the director of CBBS.
“It paid off big time,” Juett said of their visit. “When they confirmed what they had uncovered, I couldn’t believe it.”
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Team members Erika Blecha, Haley Bjorklund, Justin Garnett and Bryon Schroeder wrap the tusk with strips of plaster-covered burlap that will harden into a cast to protect it during transport.
(Devin Pettigrew/CBBS)
Schroeder confirmed the find was indeed a mammoth tusk, a rare occurrence in West Texas.
“The tusk was located in the drainage area of a creek bed,” Schroeder said. “We realized pretty quickly there was not more to the skeleton, just an isolated tusk that had been separated from the rest of the remains.”
The team spent two days plaster-jacketing the tusk, encasing it in protective layers of plaster-covered burlap, and constructing a frame to transport it to the SRSU campus for a further detailed study. Researchers said carbon dating results would be available in the next few months.
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University of Kansas graduate student Haley Bjorklund and CBBS archaeologist Erika Blecha work carefully to uncover a mammoth tusk recently discovered in West Texas.
(Justin Garnett/CBBS)
Juett said the discovery of the mammoth tusk at the O2 Ranch has sparked widespread excitement, bringing the ancient world to life for those involved.
“Now, I can’t help but imagine that huge animal wandering around the hills on the O2 Ranch,” he added. “My next thought is always about the people that faced those huge tusks with only a stone tool in their hand!”