APTOS, Calif. (AP) — A woman taking a Memorial Day

weekend stroll on a California beach found something unusual

sticking out of the sand: a tooth from an ancient mastodon.

Jennifer Schuh found the foot-long tooth on Friday on

Rio Del Mar State Beach on California’s central coast. But

Schuh wasn’t sure what she had found so she posted photos

on Facebook, hoping someone could identify the strange object.

Wayne Thompson of the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural

History determined it was a mastodon tooth and went to the

beach but couldn’t find it. On Tuesday, Jim Smith of Aptos

heard about the missing tooth. He told the museum he had

picked it up while jogging and has donated it to the museum.