8.3" Polished Mammoth Molar Section - South Carolina

This is an interesting, 8.3" wide section of a Columbia Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) molar collected from a river in South Carolina. Two surfaces (front/back) have been polished to a glossy finish, revealing the unique inner detail of the tooth. This molar contains what appears to be fossilized worms in a pocket where the tooth has worn from an unknown source, potentially the worms. It comes with an acrylic display stand.

While finding complete mammoth molars in these rivers is rare, finding fragmented or partial molars is much more common. They are collected by divers who are searching primarily for Megalodon shark teeth that have eroded out of the rocks and can be found along the river bottoms.

About the Columbian Mammoth

The Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) was one of the largest species of mammoths, towering up to 13 feet (4 meters) tall at the shoulder and weighing between 8 to 10 tons. These massive herbivores had long, curved tusks that could reach lengths of 10 to 16 feet (3 to 5 meters) and were primarily adapted to graze on grass, shrubs, and other vegetation.

Columbian mammoths roamed across North America during the Pleistocene epoch, approximately 1.5 million to 10,000 years ago. Their range extended from the southern parts of Canada through most of the United States and into northern Mexico. Unlike their woolly mammoth relatives, Columbian mammoths were better suited to temperate climates and open grasslands, favoring areas with abundant food sources.

Fossils of Columbian mammoths are commonly found in regions with ancient floodplains, riverbeds, or tar pits, such as those in the La Brea Tar Pits in California or various fossil-rich sites in Texas, Arizona, and Florida. These impressive creatures went extinct around 10,000 years ago, likely due to a combination of climate change and human activity.
SOLD
DETAILS
SPECIES
Mammuthus columbi
LOCATION
South Carolina
SIZE
8.3 x 3.6", up to 0.9" thick
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#180509
GUARANTEE
We guarantee the authenticity of all of our specimens.