In a remarkable discovery, a resident of Kamloops, B.C., stumbled upon a rare mastodon tooth while camping by Adams Lake. Ron Storie, the man who found the artifact, initially thought it was a flip-flop sole until he realized it was a significant find. The tooth, weighing one kilogram and the size of a fist, boasted a double set of molars. Perplexed by his discovery, Storie reached out to the Royal B.C. Museum for assistance.
Derek Larson, a paleontology researcher and collections manager at the museum, identified the tooth as belonging to a mastodon, an elephant-like creature. This find marked only the third documented mastodon specimen in the province. Larson mentioned the rarity of such fossils in British Columbia due to historical fossil recording limitations.
The exact age of the tooth is currently being investigated, with estimates suggesting it may date back to a prehistoric interglacial period around 75,000 to 125,000 years ago. This era saw forests extending from Florida to the high Arctic. The proximity of the discovery to Kamloops could indicate ice-free zones during the last Ice Age, approximately 10,000 to 11,000 years ago.
Storie’s prompt reporting of the find through the online fossil portal of the province was commended by Larson. Holding the ancient tooth sparked Storie’s curiosity about its origins — was it male or female, how did it perish, and how old was it? These questions prompted reflections on life’s mysteries. Storie intends to donate the mastodon tooth to the Royal B.C. Museum for further study.