American researchers unearth mammoth's tusk

Washington, June 7 (ANI): University of Michigan researchers have unearthed a mammoth's tusk at Morrison Lake Country Club in Saranac.

The clue will help with the research of the Morrison Lake Country Club mammoth.

The tusk grows throughout life, and as it forms it forms a record of the animal's history, from when it's born to the day it died," The Ionia Sentinel-Standard quoted Dr. Dan Fisher, professor of paleontology and curator of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan.

He added: "We can see years, like tree rings in the tusk, and we can analyze the material - even the material inside those tree rings - to see what it ate, how healthy it was what the environment was like, so this is a huge source of information."

The tusk was discovered Sunday, when U of M Research Specialist Dr. Scott Beld discovered a portion of the tusk.

During the time, he thought it was just a portion of a sizable bone, and didn't discover its size until he tried to dig it up.

Beld said: "Sunday, when we finished excavating the sight, we were digging down to about a centimeter of dirt over the tusk.

"When I came out on Monday, I started to clear off some of the dirt on top and felt the tusk over there."

During the dig, a large portion of the upper skull was found, another tooth that fit inside the skull.

There were also bone fragments from the skull, ribs, vertebra and other small finds.he remains lead Beld and Fisher to believe that there is only one mammoth at this location, and that early humans used the lake as a refrigerator to keep the meat from spoiling. (ANI)