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Researchers have discovered a Columbian mammoth ’s ( Mammuthus columbi ) tusk 185 miles ( 300 kilometers ) off the coast of California . scientist estimate that the tusk , which was establish at a depth of about 10,000 base ( 3,070 meter ) , is well over 100,000 year previous .
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Researchers pinpoint the mammoth tusk on the ocean floor
" You start to ' have a bun in the oven the unexpected ' when exploring the cryptical sea , but I ’m still stunned that we came upon the ancient ivory of a mammoth , " Steven Haddock , a marine life scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute ( MBARI ) and one of the researchers who found the tusk , say in astatement .
In 2019 , Haddock and submergible pilot Randy Prickett , also with the MBARI , were scanning the deep ocean off California using a remotely function vehicle ( ROV ) when they derive across a strange object : a 3 - understructure - longsighted ( 1 m ) subway system that attend suspiciously tusk - alike . The pair essay to gather the object , but they were initially only able to obtain a modest art object that break off from the tip , The New York Timesreported .
From this fragment , researchers found that the aim was a ivory from a female mammoth . But they could n’t confirm how old it was or nail the exact species .
The preserved tusk was coated in a layer of iron-manganese
Two years later on , Haddock and Prickett give back to the site with a full team of palaeontologist and genomics experts . This time , using the ROV ’s robotic limb , they collected the entire tusk , which was coated in a thick shameful gall of naturally deposited smoothing iron - manganese . Preserved gigantic tusk are usually discovered inArcticpermafrost , but in this instance , the combination of very cold pee and high pressure sensation represent like a refrigerator for a slab of gist , keeping the tusk in relatively pristine condition for thou of years , according toInsider .
" If the tusk had been recover on earth , trace its history would not be as straightforward , " Terrence Blackburn , a geologist at the University of California , Santa Cruz ( UCSC ) who was involved in the research , say in astatement .
Thanks to its exquisite saving , the scientists were capable to recover desoxyribonucleic acid from the tusk ’s inner tissue . Katherine Moon , a paleogenomicist at UCSC , called this the team ’s " ' Jurassic Park ' here and now " in an interview with the New York Times . So far , the team has limit the mammoth ’s species , sex , age at death , and even its geographic range during its lifetime . The answer are not yet published .
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Thousands of similar discovery may await scientist on the deep sea flooring . But human activities , such as undersea crude boring , have the electric potential to destroy these natural treasure .
" In this really unparalleled , underexplored and for the most part underappreciated environs , there is a lot of economic value in having home ground that is undisturbed , " Haddock told the New York Times .
Originally publish on Live Science .
