Overview
- A geomorphologist, Brigid Lynch, found an unusually complete object in a creek bed while doing habitat-restoration surveys for Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and reported it after confirming it looked like a tooth.
- Paleontologists examined the specimen and identified it as an intact adult Pacific mastodon molar notable for having both crown and root preserved and a visible root canal.
- Midpen donated the molar to Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability, where curators say the tooth is in excellent condition and will be studied in the university’s collections.
- Stanford researchers will run radiocarbon dating to refine an initial estimate near 10,000 years old, make a high-resolution 3D scan, and produce replicas for education and outreach.
- Midpen is withholding the precise find location in the Santa Cruz Mountains to prevent site disturbance, and experts say the discovery can help reconstruct local Pleistocene ecosystems and inform conservation work.