Expert Confirms 10,000-Year-Old Mastodon Tooth Found by a Boy in Michigan

A herpetologist and Wildlife Outreach Specialist for the Department of Zoology and Michigan State University (MSU) Museum confirmed the authenticity of the 10,000-year-old mastodon tooth found by a nine-year old boy in their backyard.

The expert Mr. Jim Harding emailed the family of Phillip Stoll also known as Huckleberry Phil that the tooth he unearthed at the creek near their home in Windsor Township, Michigan was the top portion of the teeth which perhaps had been removed from the animal's body at certain a point in its life.

According to a report from CNN, Professor Harding emailed the Stolls family. He stated: "This is indeed a mastodon tooth. Apparently (it is) the upper surface, broken off at the roots."

The large tooth is coloured brown with six peaks and is around 8 inches long. Professor Harding explained that there was plethora of mastodon beasts walking around the lands of Michigan more than 10,000 years ago. "They would look like a hairy elephant if you saw one today," he stated.

Stoll was walking at the creek with a friend with just his bare feet when he stepped on the sharp item with a strange shape. He took the item home and had her mom, Heidi Stoll take a look at it.

Mrs. Stoll stated that she had the creeps while holding the odd item in her hands for a few minutes. "It looked like a tooth. It looked like there was something like gum tissue, a little bulgy thing around the top," she said.

The mother and son tandem has sought Professor Harding's expertise in their quest to find the answers on the real identity of the rare find. With the expert's confirmation, the large tooth is now part of the Stoll Family's home-school lessons with her mom teaching the six children about the life of mastodon animals.

With Professor Harding's confirmation of the mastodon tooth, Stoll's penchant for prehistoric life is reinforced. He stated: "It's really neat how it looks like a giant tooth. It was fun trying to figure out what it was. My mom was surprised."