In Mississippi, discovery of elephant fossil from the ice age provides window into the past

CANTON, Miss. (AP) — Fossil hunter Eddie Templeton was out exploring in Mississippi when he came across a remarkable find. It was a fossil that appeared to be part of an ice-age elephant tusk. State experts say the fossil was intact. That made it an “extremely rare find for Mississippi.” In an Aug. 9 announcement on the discovery, experts say the fossil was in amazing condition and a first of its kind for the area. The discovery also offers a window into what life was like in the ice-age prairie ecosystem in what is now Mississippi.