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PICTURE OF THE WEEK: 50,000 Year Old Mammoth Skull

When Dr. Neville Hollingsworth, an English scientist, noticed a piece of bone poking out from beneath the earth, he didn't realize just what he had discovered. After several hours digging, he and fellow scientist, Dr. Mark O'Dell, had unearthed a complete mammoth skull-- only the second intact skull to be found in Britain.

They found it in a gravel pit where it was in danger of eventually becoming part of a road in England. The two scientists consider themselves lucky to have found it in time.

Experts believe the skull to belonged to a middle-aged female mammoth between the ages of 30 and 40 years old. She would have roamed the English countryside 50,000 years ago. Mammoths were very large animals, in some ways similar to today's elephant.

Scientists will now compare it to the United Kingdom's other complete skull, which is housed in London's Natural History Museum. They hope to learn more about the species' evolution, ecology, and lifestyle.

--Written by Amanda Tassin

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