Well-preserved tooth from Pacific mastodon found in a creek in San Francisco Bay Area

Brigid Lynch was working along a wooded creek in a mountainous part of the San Francisco Bay Area when something that didn't look like the rocks she'd been studying caught her eye. It turned out to be the fossilized tooth of a Pacific mastodon.

“I keep joking it wasn’t hard to find,” Lynch, a geomorphologist at Balance Hydrologics, said Friday. “It was just sitting there in the middle of the creek, halfway in, half out of the water.”

Lynch made the discovery earlier this year while working on a habitat restoration project for the threatened California red-legged frog in a Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District preserve in San Mateo County. The public land management agency that preserves over 70,000 acres of land in the Santa Cruz Mountains region announced the find this week. The fossil has been donated to Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability.

“It’s in great condition,” said Chrissy Garcia, curator and manager of Doerr School of Sustainability’s specimen collections. “So we’ve got both the crown and the root of the fossil. You can even see root canal.”

“It’s exciting to have a specimen of this quality, and having it be a local find,” she said.

Garcia said the tooth from the Pacific mastodon, an extinct elephantlike species, is about 9 inches (23 centimeters) long.

Ron Tykoski, vice president of science and curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, said mastodon fossils “pop up with some degree of frequency, depending on where you live.”

He said there are multiple species of mastodon that roamed for a few million years in North America, up till 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.

“The way this was found is actually the way a lot of specimens are found, just somebody who happened to be in the right place,” Tykoski said.

Garcia said that they’ll likely try to determine the exact age of the fossil, and will make a 3D copy to give to the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. The district says it will use the copy for public outreach and education.

Ryan McCauley, a spokesperson for the district, said the discovery on land they are preserving helps show the value of protecting open spaces and habitats.

“That this tooth, that this molar, was found in the context of trying to protect the habitat and save another species from potentially going extinct I think really just drives home the point of why it's so important to care for these open spaces and these natural lands,” he said.

Chrissy Garcia, curator and manager of Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, specimen collection, left, hands a fossilized tooth of a Pacific mastodon to Charlene Gage, director of University public relations, during an interview, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A fossilized tooth of a Pacific mastodon, left, is displayed during an interview in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Chrissy Garcia, curator and manager of Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, specimen collection, gestures toward a fossilized tooth of a Pacific mastodon during an interview, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A fossilized tooth of a Pacific mastodon, left, is displayed during an interview in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A fossilized tooth of a Pacific mastodon, left, is displayed during an interview in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Max Fried earned his first victory since April 27, backed by home runs from Cody Bellinger and Spencer Jones that helped the New York Yankees keep pace in the AL East race with an 8-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

Fried (5-4) allowed one run over seven smooth innings and 88 pitches, logging his longest start in almost five months to ensure the Yankees (88-63) stayed 3 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay (91-59) for the division lead. The Yankees, who clinched at least a wild card spot on Monday, will need Fried to keep this up in the postseason.

Fried, who spent 71 games on the injured list over two stints for a bone bruise in his elbow, has a 1.83 ERA with 50 strikeouts over 44 1/3 innings in nine starts after the All-Star break.

Bellinger, who had three hits and a walk, quickly got the Yankees going with his 16th homer, a two-run drive after Ben Rice began the game with a single off Bailey Ober (7-6). Bellinger is batting .377 (26 for 69) in his last 17 games.

Jones hit his 10th home run with two outs in the sixth, a three-run shot against Taylor Rogers. A fielding error by rookie shortstop Kaelen Culpepper made all four runs in the inning unearned.

New York has 11 players with 10 or more homers this season.

Star right fielder Aaron Judge, working his way back into form after recently returning from a broken rib, was on the bench for rest as the Yankees racked up 14 hits.

Culpepper was pulled with left hamstring tightness as the Twins (70-81) fell to 7-16 in their last 23 games.

LHP Carlos Rodón (6-3, 2.94 ERA) starts the last game of the series for the Yankees on Wednesday afternoon. RHP Zebby Matthews (9-10, 4.98 ERA) pitches for the Twins.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober (17) delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried stretches before a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

New York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger, front, jogs toward the dugout after crossing home plate after hitting a 2-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)