A Rare Catch: Fisherman Reels In 12,000-Year-Old Woolly Mammoth Tooth

The woolly mammoth tooth will be auctioned to help Ukrainian refugees

Captain Tim Rider was fishing for scallops when he reeled in something much rarer and more valuable - a 12,000-year-old woolly mammoth tooth. Mr Rider, part of a crew called the New England Fishmongers, was fishing off the coast of Newburyport, Massachusetts, last December when he made the unusual catch, reports NBC News. He has now put the woolly mammoth tooth up for auction and will donate the proceeds to support people in war-torn Ukraine. 

According to NBC News, Mr Rider, captain and co-owner of the New England Fishmongers, took his catch to the University of New Hampshire, where experts identified it as the tooth of a woolly mammoth that roamed the earth thousands of years ago. 

"It's quite big," said University of New Hampshire professor Will Clyde of the 11-inch artefact. 

He said that while other fishermen have also reeled in fossils, none are as well-preserved as Mr Rider's.