Mastodon tooth discovered on Santa Cruz beach donated to museum.
A woman found a foot-long object on Rio Del Mar State Beach near Santa Cruz, which turned out to be a molar belonging to a Pacific mastodon, an elephant-like mammal that existed between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago. The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History recently added the artifact to its collection, one of only three known specimens found in the area. The tooth is expected to be studied and put on display. The discovery is another piece of evidence for climate change, as when the tooth was fossilized, sea levels were 300 feet lower than they are today.