Clear Creek Independent School District News Release
WARD ELEMENTARY STUDENT MAKES MAMMOTH FIND

 

Cayley Mandadi made an unexpected discovery last month as she combed a beach on Bolivar Peninsula. The ten year old was working on her 5^th grade science project when she found what has been confirmed to be a large fragment of a Columbian mammoth tooth. 

 

The John F. Ward Elementary student’s project had been inspired by stories of another find that made national news following Hurricane Ike in mid-September.  In that case, an intact mammoth tooth was discovered by Lamar University educators Dorothy Sisk and Jim Westgate.

However, that tooth proved to be part of resident Roy Davis’ private collection, which was scattered by the destruction of his Caplen home.

 

In contrast, Cayley’s tooth appears to be a genuine local find. She discovered it on an eroded section of beach about a half mile south of High Island. Her tooth shows marine overgrowth, suggesting that it spent some time in the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico prior to being tossed onto the beach by Ike. The fragment was identified as a mammoth tooth by George Wolf of the Houston Gem and Mineral Society.

 

Cayley also discovered other fossils during her beach search, including bones from Pleistocene bison that lived approximately 10,000 years ago, when sea level was much lower. Those bones also appeared to have been uncovered by the hurricane, as they were found embedded in the stiff clay that was revealed when the overlying sand was swept away.

 

After the Clear Creek Independent School District elementary science fair concludes in early 2009, Cayley and her Mom, Alison Steele Mandadi, hope to use the unusual collection for earth science educational outreach. For more information go to: http://www.envirosteele.com/media.htm

 

 

 

To see the Channel 13 story Click Here >> http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=6551888