Rare Mammoth Unveiled at New Exhibit in University of Michigan

Massive mammoth bones will finally be unveiled to the public this week courtesy of a new exhibit at the University of Michigan. Scientists say that this mammoth walked the earth some 10,000 years ago. Its fossilized remains were found by a farmer by chance last year.

This new exhibit will open on November 5, Saturday, at the University of Michigan's Museum of Natural History. However, research will continue as scientists plan to return to the Washtenaw County farm site this month.

According to paleontologist Daniel Fisher of the University of Michigan, what is so interesting about this mammoth is that there was some human association at an earlier time before Clovis times, almost 14,000 years ago in North America.

Jim Bristle, a farmer in Lima Township, discovered the bones after an installation of a drain pipe in his soybean field. After seeing massive bones sticking out, he alerted the University of Michigan and where a team arrived at the site to recover almost 40 percent of the mammoth's skeleton, including its skull with teeth and tusks.

 Bristle says that he did not realize how big this mammoth would be and how it is so important to many people. He recalls being overwhelmed by this discovery, adding that it was a small price to pay for this kind of scientific knowledge.

The fossilized remains were buried 10 feet below the ground. Researchers say that the mammoth appears to be a hybrid of a wooly mammoth and a Columbian mammoth.

During the exhibition, guests can see the mammoth bones up close and also examine them using 3D digital models via a touch screen monitor.