Ancient elephant tusk found in east China

A fossilized elephant tusk that can be dated back at least 10,000 years has been discovered in east China's Anhui Province, local cultural heritage authorities said Monday.

A villager spotted the fossil tooth, more than three meters in length, on Thursday while working on his farmland in the township of Gucheng, Huaiyuan County in Bengbu City, said Chen Liding, director of the county's institute of cultural heritage management.

Experts with the institute identified the tusk as belonging to an adult elephant of the extinct genus Palaeoloxodon after unearthing the fossil buried over two meters underground, Chen said.

The tusk was fragile as a result of calcification, he added.

The species is believed to inhabit Anhui and Henan provinces of the Huaihe River basin between 120,000 and 10,000 years ago.

In 2007, a fossil tooth of a Palaeoloxodon elephant was found several kilometers from the township of Gucheng, Chen said.