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This nine-year-old boy literally stumbled across an incredibly rare, 1.2 million-year-old fossil

Stegomastodons belonged to the Gomphotheres animal family, who are distantly related to modern day elephants.
Stegomastodons belonged to the Gomphotheres animal family, who are distantly related to modern day elephants. Stegomastodons belonged to the Gomphotheres animal family, who are distantly related to modern day elephants.

Nine-year-old Jude Sparks had been hiking in the desert, playing with his brothers, when he stumbled upon a 1.2 million-year old fossil.

The young boy came to a stop when he tripped in the Las Cruces wilderness in New Mexico last November, only to find out that he fell on a rare stegomastodon skull.

“I was running farther up and I tripped on part of the tusk,” Sparks, now 10, said.

This nine-year-old boy literally stumbled across an incredibly rare, 1.2 million-year-old fossil
This nine-year-old boy literally stumbled across an incredibly rare, 1.2 million-year-old fossil
Jude Sparks with his discovery (Peter Houde)

“My face landed next to the bottom jaw. I looked farther up and there was another tusk.”

After researching their find at home, the family decided to contact Peter Houde, a biology professor at New Mexico State University (NMSU) who was familiar with similar types of rare fossil.

The academic explained that the long-extinct, primitive stegomastodon, which lived at least 1.2 million years ago, resembled an elephant.

“For the several types of elephants that we have in the area, this is probably one of the more common of them. But they’re still very rare. This may be only the second complete skull found in New Mexico.”

This nine-year-old boy literally stumbled across an incredibly rare, 1.2 million-year-old fossil
This nine-year-old boy literally stumbled across an incredibly rare, 1.2 million-year-old fossil
Peter Houde with the tusk of a stegomastodon (Andres Leighton/NMSU)

The intact skull, although delicate and “eggshell thin”, is estimated to weigh a ton – the jaw alone clocked up 120lbs on the scales.

In May, the Sparks family, along with a team of a dozen NMSU students and professors, excavated the skull within the space of a week, after securing funding and chemicals to preserve the finding.

Jude told the New York Times that the discovery reignited his interest in fossils, a passion which was initially sparked at five years old.

“I’m not really an expert, but I know a lot about it, I guess.”

He said that when he came across the skull, he “just knew” it was something unusual.

Houde praised the family’s response in reaching out to him, and encouraged others who were fortunate enough to make such a discovery, to approach an expert as fossils found in similar areas are “radioactive”.

This nine-year-old boy literally stumbled across an incredibly rare, 1.2 million-year-old fossil
This nine-year-old boy literally stumbled across an incredibly rare, 1.2 million-year-old fossil
Partially uncovered skull of the stegomastodon (Peter Houde)

He said: “As you can imagine, when people find out about these things, they might be tempted to go out there and see what they might find themselves and tear up the land or they might hurt themselves.”

“To be quite honest, all these fossils from this area are radioactive and especially for children, not something you would want in your home.”

The fossil currently lives at the university and will be restored for display. However, the process is expected to take years.

Houde said: “I have every hope and expectation that this specimen will ultimately end up on exhibit and this little boy will be able to show his friends and even his own children, look what I found right here in Las Cruces.”