California beach stroll uncovers prehistoric mastodon tooth, ends up in Natural History Museum

This outstanding discovery occurred when a US resident strolled on the beach at Rio del Mar in Santa Cruz County. It was on the central coast of California on Friday, May 26. The woman spotted an unusual object protruding from the sand. She went over for a closer examination but couldn't identify her find.

Initially, she took several photographs and left the object behind, believing it was useless. However, her opinion changed when she shared a photo of the intriguing find on social media.

Among the wave of astounded internet users' comments, an advisor for paleontological collections at the Natural History Museum in Santa Cruz chimed in.

"This is a mastodon molar - a highly significant discovery. When you get the chance, contact me," wrote Wayne Thompson.

Once the woman realized the magnitude of her find, she set out to find the tooth again. Unfortunately, she was out of luck. After the media covered her story, it turned out that a man who had been jogging on the beach that day had picked up the molar.

The man wasn't sure what he had found but suspected it could be extraordinary. On May 30, he recognized the tooth he had taken from the beach on a news broadcast.

Ultimately, the valuable tooth found its way to the Natural History Museum in Santa Cruz. This autumn, the tooth will join a mastodon skull found in 1980 by a teenager as a permanent exhibit.

Mastodons, members of the proboscidea family, became extinct roughly 10,000 years ago. According to museum personnel, the molar likely belonged to the Mammut pacificus, one of five known mastodon species.