11-Year-Old Cousins Find Mastodon Bone In Backyard - WRIC Richmond News and Weather -

11-Year-Old Cousins Find Mastodon Bone In Backyard

Posted: Updated:
  • 8News

  • Saturday, May 25 2013 5:33 PM EDT2013-05-25 21:33:18 GMT
    HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) - The Virginia State Police are investigating the shooting along Interstate 81 near Harrisonburg that resulted in the wounding of a tractor-trailer driver. The shooting took place
    HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) - The Virginia State Police are investigating the shooting along Interstate 81 near Harrisonburg that resulted in the wounding of a tractor-trailer driver. The shooting took place
  • Saturday, May 25 2013 4:06 PM EDT2013-05-25 20:06:29 GMT
    PARIS (AP) -- A French soldier was stabbed in the throat in a busy commercial district outside Paris on Saturday, and France's president said authorities are investigating any possible links with the recent
    PARIS (AP) -- A French soldier was stabbed in the throat in a busy commercial district outside Paris on Saturday, and France's president said authorities are investigating any possible links with the recent
  • Saturday, May 25 2013 2:41 PM EDT2013-05-25 18:41:46 GMT
    RICHMOND, Va - Scholarship Sharing is a student run organization that helps put as much information about financial aid, scholarships and grant opportunities into one place for students. Our main goal
    RICHMOND, Va - Scholarship Sharing is a student run organization that helps put as much information about financial aid, scholarships and grant opportunities into one place for students. Our main goal
SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - A researcher has confirmed that two 11-year-old boys found a mastodon bone over the summer while exploring a southeast Michigan yard.
   
The Detroit News reports Eric Stamatin of Macomb County's Shelby Township and his cousin Andrew Gainariu of Troy found the bone near a stream while exploring Eric's backyard. Eric says it looked like a rock, but a hole made them think it was a bone.
   
A researcher at Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills confirmed it was an axis bone from an extinct American mastodon, a relative of the elephant. Paleontologist John Zawiskie says the fossil is likely between 13,000 and 14,000 years old.
   
A search of the area didn't turn up more bones. Zawiskie says there are records of numerous mastodon-related finds in Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.