A family were left stunned when they discovered the skeleton on a 60,000-year-old mammoth in their firm’s gravel pit.
The almost complete set of pristine fossils were uncovered in May when Marty McEwen and his grandson Ethan Beasley were digging at the family business in Texas.
After Mr McEwen hit a 6ft-long (1.8m) tusk with an excavator, the pair alerted nearby palaeontologists who carefully removed layers of mud which are millennia old.
A family were left stunned when they discovered the skeleton on a 60,000-year-old mammoth in their firm’s gravel pit. Perot Museum of Natural History Fossil Preparator Ron Tykoski, excavates a preserved mammoth skeleton found by gravel pit owner Wayne McEwen, in Ellis County, Texas
The skeleton has been donated the nearby Perot Museum in Texas where it will be examined thoroughly
It is estimated that the skeleton could be between 20,000 and 60,000 years old. It will be transported to a permanent home at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, Texas
The creature’s relatively small size – it would only have been around 9ft (2.7m) tall – shows it was a female
‘We were very excited to discover the mammoth in our sand pit and realise it was 90 per cent complete,’ Mr McEwen said. To protect the precious fossil, the McEwens have chosen not to disclose the excavation site
It appears as if the skull, ribs and lower jaw have been relatively untouched bar a few missing leg bones
Ron Tykoski, the museum’s palaeontologist, said: ‘The McEwens have made a huge contribution to science. ‘This fossil is now part of the public trust, meaning scientists can describe it, study it, publish papers on it’
The skeleton has been donated by the McEwen’s to the nearby Perot Museum, Texas where it will be examined thoroughly after being catalogued.