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An adult mastodon tooth that was spotted at Rio Del Mar Beach near Aptos Creek is now in the hands of paleontologists in Santa Cruz. The foot-long tooth was found by Jennifer Schuh while walking the beach on Friday. Not knowing what it was, she snapped a few photos, posted them on social media and left it on the sand. That caught the attention of paleontologist Wayne Thompson at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. "He called me and told me what it was and I rushed back, but it was gone. I was crushed," Schuh said. "I knew...

Paleontologists are busy this Memorial Day weekend trying to find a tooth in Santa Cruz County that dates back to the Ice Ages. An unknown beach-goer picked up a giant mastodon tooth that first surfaced on an Aptos beach Friday. Now scientists are hoping that the scientifically significant tooth will be returned to the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History where it can be studied and displayed for the public as a piece of ancient history. US Census breakdown: The largest racial group in each Bay Area county The 1-foot-long tooth was originally spotted by a beach-goer strolling through the...

Cheryl Konrad has spent the last 35 years educating visitors to her Lahaina, Hawaii, store about the centuries-old history of scrimshaw. Konrad fills the shelves in Lahaina Scrimshaw with the etchings of local artists on fossilized walrus and mammoth ivory. But if a bill to ban the sale of ivory becomes law this year, she worries that she will be forced to close her store. “I feel like I’ve been a part of history. It’s just so hard to fathom that it could be criminal eventually,” Konrad said. Similar legislation in previous years has failed largely because of pushback from...

Poachers have allegedly used a chainsaw and axe to cut a jaw off one of nine sperm whales that died after beaching themselves on Western Australia's rugged southern coast. The nine whales - all badly slashed - were found stranded yesterday morning in shallow water near a reef off Bremer Bay, 520 km south-east of Perth. Six were dead by the time a passing fisherman spotted the pod, but all had died by late last night, wildlife officers said today. The dead whales cannot be removed because of their sheer weight - about 20 tonnes each - and because of...