It was a massive creature that roamed around the Mediterranean long, long ago.
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00:00This is a dig site in Israel, and a site of a recent and exciting paleontological find.
00:10This is the fossilized tusk of a prehistoric elephant that used to walk the lands around
00:14the Mediterranean.
00:15This is Avi Levy, the director of the excavation.
00:18He says the tusk is a massive 8.2 feet long, and it belonged to the equally large straight-tusked
00:23elephant, or Paleoloxodon antiquus.
00:26He says it's in extremely good condition, which is a rarity.
00:29It's unique because the state of preservation is really good.
00:33We didn't see so many preserved tusks like this.
00:36We know that this type of animal, the straight-tusked animal, disappeared from this area around
00:41400,000 years old.
00:43And this tusk is dated to 500,000 years old.
00:47He says just one tusk from these elephants can weigh around 330 pounds, and this is the
00:51largest complete one they've ever found.
00:54When the species roamed the lands, they would have stood nearly 14 feet tall, or upwards
00:58of 40% larger than modern-day elephants, weighing in at around 16 tons, or around 32,500
01:04pounds.