Coal miners in North Dakota unearth a mammoth tusk buried for thousands of years

By JACK DURA
Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Fossil hunters are celebrating the discovery of a mammoth tusk and other bones unearthed at a coal mine in North Dakota. A shovel operator was the first person to spot the collection of bones while shoveling a giant mound of dirt into a dump truck. More digging by paleontologists unearthed more bones, likely the most complete mammoth specimen found in North Dakota. The North American Coal company plans to donate the tusk to the state for educational purposes. The tusk is 7 feet long, weighs 50 pounds and is more than 10,000 years old. It’s wrapped in plastic for now at the North Dakota Geologic Survey office in Bismarck.