Imagine taking a walk alongside a creek you’ve visited numerous times and coming home with a prehistoric American mastodon jawbone. That’s precisely what happened to J.P. Ketchum, 15, and his cousin, Tylnn Sanders, at a creek on family land in Yazoo County, Mississippi, in June 2025. The unique discovery has sparked local excitement and interest in the ancient history of the region.
Ketchum and Sanders grew up wading in the creek, and this summer day was like no other, until something caught Ketchum’s eye.
“My cousin and I were at a creek behind my house,” shared Ketchum. “And we just stumbled upon it, and I didn’t know what it was. But it looked bizarre, and I could tell it was huge. So we dug it out of the dirt and took it back home with us.”
Ketchum knew by looking at it that it was some animal bone. He called the Mississippi Natural Science Museum, which is part of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
“I knew the museum had all types of bones and animals,” explained Ketchum. I was hoping they would examine our find so we could learn more about it. So, I gave them a call, answered a bunch of questions, and then set an appointment time to bring them.”
Experts at the Mississippi Natural Science Museum confirmed Ketchum’s find to be a fragment of an American mastodon. This large elephant-like creature roamed North America during the last Ice Age.
American mastodons were present in Mississippi during the Pleistocene epoch, and their fossils are found particularly in the Mississippi River region. In 2018, another mastodon fossil was found and donated to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science for study. The presence of Ice Age creatures like mastodons and mammoths is well-documented in the region’s fossil record. And it is believed that the rest of the mastodon found by Ketchum still lurks deep in the clay in Yazoo.
“Well, the rest of the animal is down there somewhere,” shared Ketchum. “I had it confirmed, but it’s deeper in the clay. So whenever it rains, I go down there and check.”
Ketchum has always had an interest in Paleontology, the scientific study of life in the geologic past, based on fossilized remains such as bones, shells, plants, and fossilized tracks. And this discovery has solidified his desire to dive deeper into the profession.
Ketchum and his cousin donated the fossil to state officials, ensuring it could be studied and preserved by experts.
Located in Jackson, Mississippi, tucked within historic LeFleur’s Bluff State Park, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks’ Mississippi Museum of Natural Science serves as the state’s non-game and endangered species program. The museum’s vast expanses of glass overlook a 300-acre natural landscape, an open-air amphitheater, and 2.5 miles of nature trails.
Inside, meet over 200 living species in our 100,000-gallon aquarium network and explore 73,000 square feet of permanent and temporary exhibits that include deer, waterfowl, fossils, and Mississippi’s endangered species.
