Researchers worked over two days to create a protective cast around the tusk for transport. After covering the fossil in plaster-soaked burlap strips, Schroeder’s group then constructed a frame around the ranch discovery before hauling it to SRSU for further analysis.

Thinking it might be a fossil, photos of his find made their way to researchers at Sul Ross State University. Weeks later, it was confirmed. The fossil was indeed an ancient mammoth tusk – a very rare find.

Researchers plan to carbon date the tusk to get an idea of how old it is, Schroeder said. The last time a mammoth tusk was found in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas was in the 1960s, roughly a decade after carbon dating had been invented. Carbon dating has become a much more exact science now.