(CNN) – It’s not what you’d usually dig up doing yard work, but one man in New York state found a complete mastodon jaw in his backyard.
The New York State Museum says the homeowner noticed “two unusual teeth concealed by plant fronds” while tending to his Orange County property.
Teams from the museum and State University of New York Orange unearthed the jaw, along with a piece of toe bone and a rib fragment.
The fossils will now undergo scientific analysis and be showcased to the public in 2025.
The museum says Orange County is a “hotspot” for mastodon fossils. About 50 have been found there over the years.
Mastodons are distant relatives of modern elephants. They lived in North America from about 3.75 million to 11,000 years ago.
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