A prehistoric mastodon tusk was discovered by Public Power Corporation workers in Amyntaio, Florina, Northern Greece this week after workers removed mounts of dirt after a landslide buried a PPC lignite mine in June of 2017.
The tusk was found inside the mound of dirt and it is in very good condition. Staff of the Ptolemais Palaeontological Museum collected the prehistoric relic from the quarry site and transported the find to the museum for further evaluation and maintenance.
Mastodons, the ancestors of elephants, are long-extinct but scientists are unable to pinpoint the cause of their extinction.
They lived in Europe, Asia, and North America and disappeared in Europe and Asia about two million years ago, but they became extinct in North America relatively recently, just 10,000 years ago.
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