Word: tusk
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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...tusk was found sticking in a river bank, which was 200 feat high, at that point. Half of the tusk was protruding from the bank, the other half being wedged between stratas of rock, as was discovered when excavations were made in the attempt to dig it up. This work took several days, as care had to be taken not to injure the tooth, which, although cracked in places, was otherwise in excellent condition...
Heretofore the largest mastodon tusk was in the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, a specimen measuring nine feet. The Harvard specimen is over two feet longer than the Carnegie specimen, and scientists have estimated that, during the 50,000 years it lay in the earth, corrosion has reduced its size at least two feet, making its former length well over 13 feet...
Efforts are being made to locate the mate of the tooth, and it is hoped that other remains of the monstrosity will be uncovered. The erosion of the river bank at the point where the tusk was found, was most fortunate, as it would not have been discovered otherwise, due to the depth at which it was buried...
...carried its carcass to a swamp in one corner of the property and began to dig a grave. A few feet below the surface, he struck a hard substance with his shovel. Temporarily diverted, he cleared away the soil from the hard substance and discovered a giant ivory tusk...
...first, it was believed that there were the remains of two prehistoric animals in the swamp, because one tusk of the mastodon was broken off and apparently buried in its own side, as if a struggle had taken place. Dr. Mather definitely destroyed this notion in the following letter to Mr. Hirschberg...