Marine Biologists Uncover A Mammoth Tusk Lying At The Bottom Of The Ocean
Photo 61487541 © Sam Antonio | Dreamstime.com
While the deep sea remains to be a vastly elusive place, with more than 80% of the world’s oceans still being kept in the dark, the last thing scientists expected to find lurking there was the tusk of an ancient land mammal.
“You start to ‘expect the unexpected’ when exploring the deep sea, but I’m still stunned,” proclaims marine biologist Steven Haddock in a news release published by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).
During a deep-sea expedition aboard the R/V Western Flyer in 2019, Haddock and remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) pilot Randy Prickett discovered what they had believed to be an elephant tusk some 10,000 feet underwater, 185 miles offshore of California. At the time, they were only able to collect a small piece of the tooth, so they made a note to return later and investigate further.
The duo went back in 2021 and obtained the full three-foot-long tusk via ROV Doc Ricketts, and the specimen was soon verified to be the tusk of a Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi).
Steven Haddock observing the tusk’s internal structure with his science team at MBARI. Photo taken by Darrin Schultz for MBARI
Haddock, a senior scientist at MBARI, tells Gizmodo that the mammoth tusk was “by far the most improbable thing I’ve experienced,” considering that the deep sea is home to some of the most unimaginable creatures. Plus, it’s almost unthinkable that the tusk could lay there for millennia in one piece.
University of Michigan paleontologist Daniel Fisher, who is part of the investigating team, mentions that it’s not the first time mammoths have been uncovered in the ocean, but they’re usually retrieved in depths no more than “a few tens of meters.”
The deep ocean’s unusual cold and high-pressure environment was what protected the ancient tusk from taking in too much damage. Past excavations of dinosaur and alligator carcasses additionally suggest that the mammoth tusk could have floated into the ocean from phenomenons of water overflow like floods or tsunamis, or even just tides, before sinking to the bottom, but scientists will only be able to paint a more accurate picture after in-depth analysis.
Haddock and Fisher are currently working with paleontologists, geneticists, oceanographers, geochronologists, and other scientists to examine the specimen from multiple angles. With oceanographers from UC Santa Cruz, they’ll look at the tusk’s mineral crusts and ancient ocean currents to trace the mammoth’s potential route into the ocean. “We were wondering if it could have drifted all the way from Alaska, or if it took the short route from the California coast,” Haddock tells Gizmodo.
Haddock, UC Santa Cruz postdoctoral researcher Katie Moon, and University of Michigan paleontologist Daniel Fisher preparing to clean the tusk. Photo taken by Darrin Schultz for MBARI
The team will also conduct CT scans to obtain 3D views of the tusk for a look into its internal structure and makeup, as well as hopefully extract DNA from the specimen to figure out its age and history.
With all this new information, scientists might be able to learn more about the evolution of mammoths and how these creatures ended up in North America.
[via Gizmodo and MBARI, images via various sources]
