Boys Finds Mastodon Skull Hiking in Las Cruces

A 10-year-old boy helped researchers discover a rare fossil skull in New Mexico’s Las Cruces desert.Jude Sparks stumbled on the 1.2 million-year-old skull of a stegomastodon while out hiking with his parents and brothers. The Sparks family shared the news of their discovery with the New Mexico State University who excavated the skull and tusks in May. NMSU hopes to put the fossil, which is a distant relative of the modern elephant, on display once conservation work has been completed. Credit: New Mexico State University via Storyful