First-of-Its-Kind Mammoth Tusk Unearthed in Mississippi Creek

Fossil hunter Eddie Templeton discovered a completely intact Columbian mammoth tusk in Madison County, Mississippi.Photo byEddie Templeton

Amateur fossil hunter Eddie Templeton made an incredible discovery in the creek banks of Mississippi. He was wading through a creek in Madison County and stumbled across a giant tusk partially exposed in a mud bank. Templeton has been treasure-hunting these parts since he was a kid and has previously uncovered a saber-toothed foot bone and a relative of the giant armadillo. His recent find is making news.

Photo byEddie Templeton

Templeton stumbled upon the 7-foot-long tusk, which has been confirmed to have belonged to a Columbian Mammoth, a distant relative of the Wooly mammoth. At the time, he wasn’t certain of his find, speculating it might be from a Mastodon. He shared the discovery with George Phillips, the curator of Paleontology at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, whose expertise in the field confirmed the tusk's origin.

These creatures lived during the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, making the fossil anywhere from 11,700 to 75,000 years old! The Columbian mammoth weighed over ten tons and could grow up to 13 feet tall. They lived alongside the Mastodon in North America and had a grassy diet. Grasslands biomes were actually rare on the East Coast of the U.S.. Still, according to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, they once roamed the Mississippi area.

The field scientists covered the fossil with plaster in an attempt to keep the tusk from drying out and fragmenting.Photo byEddie Templeton

What makes this discovery truly remarkable is its rarity. Until now, only teeth of the Columbian mammoth have been found in Mississippi, making this a first-of-its-kind find for the region. The distinctively curved tusks of the mammoth, which can almost form a complete circle, were a clear indicator for Phillips that this tusk belonged to the Columbian Mammoth.

The tusk is now at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, where it is being carefully monitored and researched. Unfortunately, the tusk broke into two during extraction and transportation, so it must be meticulously reassembled. The museum has an annual Fossil Road Show in early March, and Phillips is working diligently to have the tusk ready for public view by then.