Fisherman hooks fossilized mammoth jawbone from river

A man fishing in northeastern China managed to reel in something no fish story could match when he snagged a segment from a well-preserved mammoth jawbone.

Wu Desheng of Jilin, Jilin province said he made the discovery on Tuesday while fishing in the city's Songhua River, from which he plucked the seven-centimeter-long fossil.

"I thought it might be an animal fossil when I pulled it from the mud," said Wu.

Pi Fusheng, a researcher of culture and history of Jilin, was the first to identify the catch as a maxillary bone from a mammoth; one that roamed northeastern China in the Late Pleistocene era (around 10,000 to 50,000 years ago).

"This was the largest elephant that walked the earth, almost two times larger than the modern day elephant," said Pi.

"Its head was enormous," he added.

Pi pointed out that the fossil remained well-preserved despite years of exposure to water, making it invaluable for paleontological research.

The mammoth is an ancient species that once roamed Europe, Asia and northern North America, the last of which died off around 4,500 years ago.

Scientists estimate an average adult mammoth was 5 meters long and 3 meters tall.