Rare Find: Jawbone Fossil of American Lion from 11,000 Years Ago Found in Mississippi River Sandbar

A man who was taking a stroll along the Mississippi River's exposed sandbar came across a rare discovery of a jawbone fossil that belonged to an American lion that roamed the planet 11,000 years ago.

Wiley Prewitt of Exford, Mississippi, had no idea that he would come across a fossilized animal from an age of about 11,000 years ago while out for a stroll.

Prewitt poked around an exposed sandbar as a result of the Mississippi River's low water levels on October 26 near Rosedale, about 140 miles northwest of Jackson, and discovered what appeared to be a jawbone with black teeth.

Prewitt was able to determine from the teeth that it was a piece of a carnivore's jaw right away, but I dared not harbor the hope that it was from an American lion. He claimed that it appeared to be correct, but he would not allow himself to believe it.

Prewitt sought advice from a specialist while attending the Mississippi Fossil and Artifact Symposium & Exhibition three days later.

Fourth Fossil Evidence of an American Lion

It was the fossilized jawbone of an American lion, the continent's largest big cat up until its extinction. According to the National Park Service, the American lion is bigger than the saber-toothed tiger, standing four feet tall, measuring eight feet long, and weighing 1,000 pounds.

The giants, who lived 340,000 years ago, preyed on large animals throughout the continent, from southern Mexico to Alaska, Interesting Engineering reports.

Prewitt's discovery was only the fourth instance of the lion's fossilization; the first three were discovered in Mississippi.

Unexpectedly, these previously discovered fossils were on display at the symposium.

Prewitt, according to the event's organizer Anna Reginelli, made history by attending with a definitive fossil of an American lion. Reginelli claimed that while significant artifacts and fossils have visited her outreach events and programs, nothing has ever been as significant as the recently discovered American lion fossil, Sun Herald reports.

Reginelli pointed out that in the 1830s, Natchez, Mississippi, became the site of the first discovery of the extinct American Lion. Before this well-known Mississippi discovery, no one was aware that enormous lions existed in North America. The Mississippi River near Rosedale and Clarksdale, Mississippi areas, is where the two remaining authentic American Lion fossils were found.

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Largest Cat, Biggest Deal in Paleontology

The incident, according to George Phillips, curator of paleontology at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, was one of those genuine instances were blinking a few times was necessary. There are so few fossils in the east that it is impossible to confirm the existence of different subspecies of American lions.

One of the biggest finds in paleontology, as per James Starnes, a geologist from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. He continued by expressing his wish that the fossil would eventually be stored in a laboratory or museum collection for research purposes.

Starnes added that The fossil is so rare that any knowledge gained from it will help in learning so much more about the ancient animal, not just as a species, but also about its role in the Pleistocene habitat of the Mississippi River alluvial plain, Newsbreak reports.