Three-million-year-old fossil uncovered by New Mexico bachelor party
Jun 15, 2014, 4:50 PM | Updated: Jun 16, 2014, 3:40 am
What happens at the Elephant Butte State Park stays at Elephant Butte State Park?
Well, not exactly for a bachelor party group that uncovered the surprise of a lifetime.
The party was camping out in the state park earlier this week when they just happened to come across the gigantic fossil of a stegomastodon, an elephant-like creature that lived more than 3,000,000 years ago.
According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, after the campers made the discovery known, a group of paleontologists arrived on scene to study the fossil.
Based on the fossil’s upper molars, Gary Morgan of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science was able to determine that the stegomastodon died at or around the age of 50.
“This is far and away the best one we’ve ever found,” said Morgan, gently tapping the teeth with the handle of a small brush. “Maybe the only complete one found in New Mexico.”