Peach bone mastodon over 10,000 years in the yard

Two men in Michigan, USA, dug dozens of fossil bone fragments of ancient mastodon, dating from 10,000 to 14,000 years.

>>>New hypothesis about extinction of mastodons

Eric Witzke (left) and Dan LaPoint and pieces of bone dug up from the backyard.(Photo: lansingstatejournal.com)

Mastodon's ribs.(Photo: lansingstatejournal.com)

42 large fossil bone fragments, including the legs, shoulder, hip, ivory and vertebrae were found in Eric Witzke's backyard. He and his neighbor, Daniel LaPoint, dug them up for 4 days.

This is what remains of a male, 37-year-old mastodon and lived about 10,000 to 14,000 years ago. The trace on the bone shows that it was killed and sliced.

The mastodon bones will soon be included in the University of Michigan Paleontology Museum. LaPoint and Witzke retain some small pieces to celebrate.

"The scientific value is the new information, the new look that the specimens like this bone give," UPI quoted Daniel Fisher, the museum's director, as saying. About 330 mastodon findings were recorded in Michigan over the past year.

Mastodon belongs to the genus of extinction. Mastodon predominantly eat pine nuts and leaves in a way that leaves leaves like elephants today, while mammoths are grazing animals.