Scientists excavated a nearly complete mammoth skeleton in Michigan, discovered by a soybean farmer on his land.
According to the Washington Post, farmer James Bristle of Chelsea, Michigan, was digging in his soybean field when he thought he discovered a completely buried fence post. That turned out to be one of the mammoth's ribs.
University of Michigan professor Daniel Fisher confirmed the find on Wednesday, and spent the whole day extracting the site. Fisher thinks the mammoth is between 11,000 and 15,000 years old, and had been butchered by early humans and left in a pond to preserve its meat.
Fisher told the Post most of the skeleton was there: the skull, tusks, vertebrae, and most of the ribs were all found, along with one kneecap and most of the shoulder blades and pelvis.
Mammoths went extinct about 10,000 years ago. Its other relatives are the now-extinct mastodon and modern elephants.