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ScienceQuiet 8d · day 15

Geomorphologist finds rare Ice Age mastodon molar in Bay Area creek

A field survey for threatened red-legged frogs turned up an exceptionally preserved Pacific mastodon tooth in a San Mateo County preserve.

newest coverage 8d agosummary written 13d ago61 pieces3.8k likes & upvotes63 comments NewswiresMastodonGoogle NewsBlueskyHacker News

What to know

  • A geomorphologist surveying for threatened red-legged frogs accidentally found an exceptionally preserved Pacific mastodon molar in a San Mateo County creek.
  • The tooth is described by a paleontologist as the most complete mastodon molar found in the Bay Area.
  • The fossil has been donated to Stanford's Doerr School of Sustainability, where researchers plan carbon dating to determine its age, the mastodon's diet, and local Ice Age climate.
  • The land managers are not disclosing the exact creek or preserve to prevent unauthorized digging for more fossils.

“This find highlights for me that the presence of mastodons wasn't that long ago, in geologic time. That mastodons were out here in the same landscape that I'm in today, 11,000 years ago roughly, really drives home how important the work we do is to keep species from winking out forever.”

Matt Sharp Chaney, Biologist, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District · NY Post ↗ · Sep 8

Brigid Lynch Geomorphologist, Balance HydrologicsWayne Thompson Paleontologist, owner of Pacific PaleontologyRyan McCauley Spokesman, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space DistrictChristine Garcia Curator, Doerr School of Sustainability specimen collection, StanfordMatt Sharp Chaney Biologist, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District

Geomorphologist finds rare Ice Age mastodon molar in Bay Area creek
NY Post

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

Peak 10 pieces in 4h at Sep 12, 2 PM; 61 pieces over 15 days (41 articles · 20 posts) Sep 9, 6 PM — 3 pieces · 3 articles — Newswires 3Sep 9, 10 PM — quietSep 10, 2 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Google News 1Sep 10, 6 AM — quietSep 10, 10 AM — 6 pieces · 6 articles — Google News 4, Newswires 2Sep 10, 2 PM — 4 pieces · 3 articles · 1 post — Google News 3, Mastodon 1Sep 10, 6 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 10, 10 PM — quietSep 11, 2 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Sep 11, 6 AM — quietSep 11, 10 AM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Sep 11, 2 PM — 7 pieces · 6 articles · 1 post — Newswires 6, Mastodon 1Sep 11, 6 PM — 6 pieces · 5 articles · 1 post — Google News 3, Mastodon 2, Newswires 1Sep 11, 10 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 12, 2 AM — quietSep 12, 6 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 12, 10 AM — 3 pieces · 3 articles — Google News 2, Newswires 1Sep 12, 2 PM — 10 pieces · 4 articles · 6 posts — Mastodon 5, Newswires 3, Bluesky 1, +1 moreSep 12, 6 PM — quietSep 12, 10 PM — 2 pieces · 2 posts — Mastodon 2Sep 13, 2 AM — 2 pieces · 2 posts — Mastodon 2Sep 13, 6 AM — quietSep 13, 10 AM — quietSep 13, 2 PM — quietSep 13, 6 PM — quietSep 13, 10 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 14, 2 AM — quietSep 14, 6 AM — quietSep 14, 10 AM — 2 pieces · 2 posts — Hacker News 1, Mastodon 1Sep 14, 2 PM — quietSep 14, 6 PM — quietSep 14, 10 PM — quietSep 15, 2 AM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Google News 2Sep 15, 6 AM — 3 pieces · 3 articles — Google News 3Sep 15, 10 AM — quietSep 15, 2 PM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Sep 15, 6 PM — quietSep 15, 10 PM — quietSep 16, 2 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Sep 16, 6 AM — quietSep 16, 10 AM — quietSep 16, 2 PM — quietSep 16, 6 PM — quietSep 16, 10 PM — quietSep 17, 2 AM — quietSep 17, 6 AM — quietSep 17, 10 AM — quietSep 17, 2 PM — quietSep 17, 6 PM — quietSep 17, 10 PM — quietSep 18, 2 AM — quietSep 18, 6 AM — quietSep 18, 10 AM — quietSep 18, 2 PM — quietSep 18, 6 PM — quietSep 18, 10 PM — quietSep 19, 2 AM — quietSep 19, 6 AM — quietSep 19, 10 AM — quietSep 19, 2 PM — quietSep 19, 6 PM — quietSep 19, 10 PM — quietSep 20, 2 AM — quietSep 20, 6 AM — quietSep 20, 10 AM — quietSep 20, 2 PM — quietSep 20, 6 PM — quietSep 20, 10 PM — quietSep 21, 2 AM — quietSep 21, 6 AM — quietSep 21, 10 AM — quietSep 21, 2 PM — quietSep 21, 6 PM — quietSep 21, 10 PM — quietSep 22, 2 AM — quietSep 22, 6 AM — quietSep 22, 10 AM — quietSep 22, 2 PM — quietSep 22, 6 PM — quietSep 22, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 6 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 6 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietToday, 2 AM — quietToday, 6 AM — quiet 1
Sep 10Sep 12Sep 14Sep 16Sep 18Sep 20Sep 22now · 8:50 AM ET
  1. 1

    LA Times and social accounts extend coverage of the find

    The Los Angeles Times ran its own account of the discovery, and Midpen's social channels shared details of the Pacific mastodon species and its Ice Age ecosystem alongside the fossil news.

    “It really stuck out. I had no idea what it was. I thought maybe it was a mollusk or something, but that didn't make sense since it wasn't near the ocean.”
    — Brigid Lynch, Geomorphologist who found the tooth · source
    1. 9 outlets Rare Ice Age mastodon tooth discovered in Bay Area creek

      first by LA Times, 13d ago · also PennLive, MassLive, The Oregonian, The New York Times, NYT Science, Smithsonian +2

      6 more headlines
    2. 7 outlets Massive Ice Age-era mastodon tooth found in creek

      first by KXAN Austin, 11d ago · also Yahoo News Canada, AP News, Toronto Star, KCRA, Philadelphia Inquirer, CP24

      2 more headlines
    • nytimes.com

      A geologist in California who was surveying a San Mateo County creek stumbled upon a preserved Pacific mastodon molar estimated to be at least 10,000 years old.

      nytimes.comBluesky11d ago3.6k▲view on Bluesky ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 11 posts in this stretch
    • ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org

      In mastodon news today: 10,000-year-old fossilized mastodon tooth discovered in Midpen preserve Fossil discovered in a creek within the forests of San Mateo County https:// msg.openspace.org/mastodon-too th # mastodon # archeology

      ai6yr@m.ai6yr.orgMastodon13d ago199▲view on Mastodon ↗
    • TheBreadmonkey@beige.party

      Which one of you is this Mastodon tooth found in San Francisco Bay Area https:// apnews.com/article/fossilized- mastodon-tooth-discovery-california-f7acdd7f3a1240ed0710313e2ab87dc8

      TheBreadmonkey@beige.partyMastodon11d ago11▲view on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  2. background

    National outlets pick up the mastodon tooth story — NY Post, Mercury News and SFGate published detailed accounts of the find, quoting paleontologist Wayne Thompson and Midpen spokesman Ryan McCauley, and noting the district is withholding the exact creek location to prevent unauthorized digging.

  3. background

    Midpen and Stanford announce the discovery and donation — Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and Stanford's Doerr School of Sustainability released statements describing the find; the tooth was donated to Stanford's collection, where researchers plan carbon dating to determine its age, diet clues and local Ice Age climate conditions.

  4. background

    Photo search and experts confirm it's a mastodon molar — After running her photo through Google image search at home, Lynch suspected the object was a fossil; colleagues retrieved the tooth from the creek, and Stanford University and paleontologist Wayne Thompson confirmed it as an intact Pacific mastodon molar.

  5. background

    Lynch spots an odd rock while surveying a creek — Brigid Lynch of Balance Hydrologics, working on a habitat-enhancement survey for the threatened California red-legged frog in a Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District preserve, noticed an unusually shaped, smooth object half-submerged in a creek and photographed it.

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. 5 outlets 10,000-year-old fossilized mastodon found in creek

    first by Yahoo News Canada, 13d ago · also Times of India, Guardian, Guardian Science, ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos

    3 more headlines
  2. 2 outlets 'Oddly shaped rock' found in San Mateo County turns out to be huge ice age tooth

    first by SFGate Bay Area, 14d ago · also Live Science

    1 more headline
  3. 2 outlets ‘Immaculate condition’: Rare mastodon fossil found in San Mateo County creek

    first by The Mercury News, 13d ago · also Mercury News

and 1 smaller piece

What people are saying 8 voices from 1 site · best of 11 · verbatim