Stargeek: Atlantis

AP reported on Thursday that

[r]esearchers in northern Greece have uncovered two massive tusks of a prehistoric mastodon that roamed Europe more than 2 million years ago — tusks that could be the largest of their kind ever found.

The remains of the mastodon, which was similar to the woolly mammoth but had straighter tusks as well as different teeth and eating habits, were found in an area about 250 miles north of Athens where excavations have uncovered several prehistoric animals over the past decade.

One of the tusks measured 16-feet-4-inches long and the other was more than 15 feet long, the research team said. They were found with the animal's upper and lower jaws - still bearing teeth - and leg bones.... ...

Mastodons, an ancestor of the elephant, roamed Europe, Asia and North America, but how they became extinct remains a mystery. They are thought to have disappeared in Europe and Asia some 2 million years ago, but survived in North America until 10,000 years ago.

One of the things about such finds - besides the inherent coolness - is that they carry more information than just about the animal itself. Plants in the same vicinity and strata can tell scientists more about the environment in which the animal lived and analyzing growth rings in the tusks can yield information about the climate at the time. That notion of "everything teaches" is one of the reasons I am drawn to science.