Michigan boy finds historic mastodon tooth in Rochester Hills creek

DETORIT, Michigan – A 6-year-old boy noticed something on the ground during a family walk in Michigan last month. It turned out to be a mastodon tooth.

Fittingly enough, he found it in the Dinosaur Hill Nature Reserve, WDIV reported.

“I just felt something on my foot and grabbed it, and it looked a bit like a tooth,” said Julian Gagnon, 6.

At first they thought it was your standard rock, and given the name of the center of nature, maybe even a dinosaur tooth.

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However, after a quick Google search, they realized that he belonged to a juggernaut.

“At first I thought I was going to make some money. I was going to win a million dollars. So embarrassing right now, ”said Gagnon.

But that is not what happened next.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Paleontological Museum confirmed the family’s intuition.

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Not only that, but it’s a rare find.

“Honestly, I’m a little jealous, personally, because fossil mining is something I wish I could do every day,” said Abby Drake of the University of Massachusetts Museum of Natural History.

They have a fairly rare display of behemoths and although it is known as the State Fossil, it is difficult to find what is left of it.

“It is difficult to be preserved as a fossil when an animal dies, most of the time it is recovered,” Drake added.

Gagnon’s father wanted to give him back, but the boy and the nature center believe that a valuable lesson can be learned from all of this.

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“The good thing about nature is that you never know what you are going to find and that even if you are an expert, that does not mean that you will be the one who finds things”, a said Amanda Felk, program master of Dinosaur Hill Nature Reserve.

This is what makes it so amazing. The behemoths date back 12,000 years and this discovery is a nod to history and the future.

“I really wanted to be an archaeologist, but I think it was a sign that I’m going to be a paleontologist,” Gagnon said.