The Mastodon Tooth for Kids

The True Story of the Ice Age Tooth Found in a California Creek (Nuggets Books, 5)

von Jon Weeks

60 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

A nine-inch tooth, sitting in a California creek. It turned out to be one of the most complete Ice Age mastodon molars ever found.Early in 2026, geomorphologist Brigid Lynch was down in a redwood-forest creek bed in San Mateo County, counting rocks for a project to help the threatened California red-legged frog. She was not hunting fossils. Then she saw the one rock that did not belong: a nine-inch object, about the size of a toaster, covered in cone-shaped bumps in a neat row.A reverse image search gave the first hint. Then a real paleontologist confirmed it: a Pacific mastodon molar, a tooth from an Ice Age giant that vanished with the mammoths and saber-tooth tigers. The Pacific mastodon was only recognized as its own species in 2019, the first new North American mastodon species in fifty years, and this tooth may be its finest example. The crown is intact. Most of the roots are still attached, which almost never happens with fossil teeth.The Mastodon Tooth for Kids is the 100% true story of that discovery, written for curious kids ages 8-12. Follow the tooth from the creek to Stanford University, where scientists are slowly drying it, planning carbon dating and a 3D scan, and honestly disagreeing about how old it really is: about 10,000 years, or closer to 100,000? Plus the frog that started it all, the Bay Area when it was an Ice Age Serengeti, and the question of whether a whole mastodon skull is still buried out there.Inside you'll find: - The true story of the 2026 California creek discovery, from frog survey to fossil- 15 original black-and-white illustrations, from the creek to the laboratory- A kid quiz, "By the Numbers" stats, a glossary, and a full sources section- Real paleontology: how one tooth can identify a species, and how scientists read age, diet, and behavior from enamelPart of the Nuggets series by Jon Weeks - short, thrilling, 100% true science stories for kids who love fossils, Ice Age giants, and real discoveries.Every kid deserves true stories.

• Reihe: Independently published
• ISBN: 9798176187908
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 21.09.2026
• Größe: 229 x 152 mm
• Verlag: Independently published