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Wis. Boy, 3, Finds Woolly Mammoth Tooth
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[November 06, 2007]
LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) -- Three-year-old Kaleb Kidd spotted what looked like an unusual rock while chasing squirrels Monday at a family friend's property. "Grandpa, what's that?" Kaleb asked his grandfather, Gary Kidd. Fortunately for the elder Kidd, the find was similar to one he made in 1998.
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 He told his grandson it looked like the tooth of a woolly mammoth -- the extinct, hairy elephant that once roamed North America.
Next stop for the two was the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, which confirmed that it was, indeed, the tooth of a mammoth.
Connie Arzigian, the center's laboratory director, couldn't precisely date the tooth but estimated it could be 10,000 to 30,000 years old.
It weighs 2 pounds and measures 6 inches long and 3 inches wide.
"The mammoth is a grass eater," Arzigian said. "Think about cows and what they do as they graze
-- they're grinding the surfaces. They need flat surfaces to work against each other. They grind the surfaces down to make grasses consumable."
The tooth Kaleb found was even bigger before its outer surface wore away over the thousands of years, she said.
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 The latest find is in better shape than the one Gary Kidd brought up from the bottom of the Mississippi River nine years ago while clamming. That tooth was water-soaked and had fallen apart, he was told when he took it to the center.
The center already has a woolly mammoth tooth in its collection, but it's always fun to see someone discover another one, Arzigian said.
"It's wonderful to get an idea of what was here in the past," she said.
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Information from: La Crosse Tribune,
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/
[Associated Press; By LAURAN NEERGAARD]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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