Workers digging a reservoir in California thought they had uncovered the bones of an elephant. In fact, their find was even more extraordinary. They'd dug up the yellow curved tusks, the teeth and the lower jaw of a prehistoric mammoth. "It's certainly the best preserved we've ever found," says paleontologist Eric Scott.
Mammoths roamed North America, Europe and Asia from 2 million to 9,000 years ago, when climate changes and humans wiped them out. Though they resembled today's elephants, they were somewhat larger and a lot shaggier. They had long outer coats and dense woolly undercoats. Their curved ivory tusks were much longer than an elephant's.
Scientists say this mammoth was a young female that died 15,000 to 20,000 years ago. They continue to dig at the reservoir site, hoping to find more bones.