8-year-old finds mammoth tooth in Texas

Published: March. 7, 2008 at 4:13 PM

ALLEN, Texas, March 7 (UPI) -- An Allen, Texas, man says an object found by his 8-year-old daughter has been confirmed to be a woolly mammoth tooth that's at least 8,000 years-old.

The tooth was found by Allison Dodd while she was searching for fossils in Waters Creek at the Day Spring Nature Preserve with her mother and father supervising, the Dallas Morning News reported Friday.

"We thought it might have been a big fish's rib cage or something like that," the girl said of the foot-long object.

The family brought the mystery object to the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary in McKinney, Texas. They showed their find to collections curator Roger Sanderson.

"He kind of grinned when he saw it," said Mark Dodd, Allison's father. "And he showed us a smaller version of a similar-looking thing."

Dodd said Sanderson had the object confirmed as a mammoth tooth.

"Elephants are my favorite animal," Allison Dodd said proudly. "Elephants and mammoths are in the same group."

The girl said she plans to keep the tooth, despite offers from collectors.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
Whiskey truck overturns, spills onto road (5 min)
MIA Australian dog found in Afghanistan (11 min)
Grain futures mixed Thursday (11 min)
Monkey eludes capture in Florida (16 min)
Critics question giving police old guns (22 min)
U.S. markets close lower Thursday (27 min)
Police: 911 caller made up potato attack (41 min)
fark
Guy's cell phone minutes run out, so he calls 911 five times to see if anyone will have sex with...
*POP*
Woman wins $1M McDonalds Monopoly prize. Plans to use winnings on new house, car, angioplasty
You went full North by Northwest, dude. Never go full North by Northwest
Not news: ex-soldier finds a gun in his garden - Still not news: man hands gun into police - Fark:...
Bow wow wow, yippie yo, yippie yeah, Bow wow yippie yo yippie yeah (c)