A family in Ellis County, a North Texas locale, recently discovered a skeleton of a mammoth on its small ranch. The skeleton has been donated to the Perot Museum in Dallas, Texas.
The dig to recover the skeleton has been ongoing for the past few months, since the family first discovered that there was a mammoth skeleton buried beneath their land. Two members of the McEwen family discovered part of the skeleton in May of this year. The skeleton was initially discovered by accident, Dr. Ron Tykosky said. Tykosky works with the Perot Museum, the mammoth's next home. He said that a rancher struck upon the skeleton when he was digging a hole to mine gravel to sell to the highway department. The dump truck they were using to dig stopped suddenly when it struck what turned out to be one of the tusks of the mammoth.
The skeleton is about 85% complete, scientists say. It is in excellent condition despite the thousands of years since the mammoth died. It is at least 20,000 years old, but could be as old as 60,000 years old, according to some estimates from researchers.
A press release from Wayne McEwen, a member of the family on whose ranch the skeleton was discovered, said that the family was "very excited to discover the mammoth in our sand pit and realize it was 90 percent complete. One of the greatest joys in this whole thing was to meet and see the excitement on the faces of the many volunteers."
Eugene McDermott, the CEO of the Perot Museum, said that he was very grateful for the family's generosity in sharing the skeleton with the museum. He called the skeleton a "meaningful" part of Texas's history, especially since it was discovered in Texas.
So far, researchers think the mammoth would have been nine feet tall when it was alive. The skeleton seems to have belonged to a female mammoth. It would have weighed about as much as an Asian elephant does today.
Tom Vance, the project director of the dig, repeated that it was significant that this mammoth had walked through North Texas's "backyard" thousands of years ago. "I am extremely excited about this outstanding find. It's very unique for North Central Texas," he said.
The mammoth will be installed in the Perot Museum in Dallas sometime in September.
