Boy Literally Stumbles Upon Rare Fossil of Prehistoric Animal

Boy Literally Stumbles Upon Rare Fossil of Prehistoric Animal
Jude Sparks poses with the jawbone of a stegomastodon he discovered while hiking in the desert in Las Cruces, N.M., with his family. Peter Houde
Petr Svab
Petr Svab
reporter
|Updated:

Ten-year-old Jude Sparks was hiking in the desert near Las Cruces in New Mexico with his family in November when he tripped over something extraordinary—a large, well-preserved, 1.2 million-year-old fossilized skull.

“I was running farther up and I tripped on part of the tusk,” Jude said. “My face landed next to the bottom jaw. I looked farther up and there was another tusk.”

He first thought it was a cow skull, but when his parents saw the fossil, they suspected it was something more special.

Jude’s father, Kyle, said that after he returned home he called Peter Houde, a professor of biology at New Mexico State University.

Houde went to check out the find for himself, and was pleasantly surprised.

“I think this is only the second full Stegomastodon skull found in the state of New Mexico,” he told Fox News.

Stegomastodons looked a lot like elephants and had extremely long tusks—up to more than 11 feet. They lived, as far as we know, from about 5 million years ago up until fairly recently. The youngest fossils found so far have been dated back to around 29,000 years ago. Their home is known to have been North and Central America.

Jude’s is a valuable discovery because the whole skull was preserved, including a jawbone. Usually, paleontologists only get their hands on fragments of Stegomastodon fossils.

New Mexico State University geology student Danielle Peltier poses with the partially uncovered skull of a stegomastadon. Peltier assisted NMSU biology professor Peter Houde in carefully unearthing the 1.2 million-year-old fossil which was discovered in Las Cruces by 10-year-old Jude Sparks. (Peter Houde)
New Mexico State University geology student Danielle Peltier poses with the partially uncovered skull of a stegomastadon. Peltier assisted NMSU biology professor Peter Houde in carefully unearthing the 1.2 million-year-old fossil which was discovered in Las Cruces by 10-year-old Jude Sparks. Peter Houde
Petr Svab
Petr Svab
reporter
Petr Svab is a reporter covering New York. Previously, he covered national topics including politics, economy, education, and law enforcement.
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