Mammoth spit tooth found by Jerol Gardner, DeSoto County, FL

Proof mammoths spat

Words and Photos by Mark Renz

Back in the heyday of the Pleistocene epoch some 12,000 to 1.8 million years ago, mammoths munched on Florida's
prolific fiberous grasses in much the same way cows today graze on grasses in a rancher's field.

Mammoth teeth, like today’s elephants, formed in the back of their jaws, then rotated forward like a conveyor belt.
As the teeth moved forward, they became more and more worn until finally, the teeth were spit out the front of the jaw.
After the final tooth was spit out (up to five or six sets in the animal’s lifetime), the animal would have extreme difficulty
chewing and would likely perish.

Mammoth spit tooth found by Jerol Gardner in a DeSoto County, FL stream bed