A once-in-a-lifetime event indeed!
Justin Blawet, a construction employee, found an item that was confirmed to be a woolly mammoth tooth on the grounds of a property owned by the Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon, Iowa. The tooth was exposed during excavation and was discovered by Blauwet. However, knowing what it was and realizing its importance at first glance was because of Blawet’s enthusiasm for fossils and prehistoric animals.
The discovery was a lucky find, according to Tiffany Adrain, a Paleontology Repository Instructor at the University of Iowa. “While discovery of mammoth remains is not uncommon in Iowa, once the bones and teeth are out in the open, they can fall apart and disappear quickly because they are not completely fossilized,” she further explained. The professor was called by the staff to confirm the fossil’s identity.
The tooth is now being preserved to protect it from drying out too rapidly and disintegrating. As for where it will be placed, the Northwest Iowa Community College said that the plan is to put it at the Sheldon Prairie Museum as a semi-permanently loaned display.
Image credit: DGR Engineering