Prehistoric walrus femur found by family dog along Bay Head Beach
The rare find then found its way first into a classroom and now a museum so we can learn more about New Jersey’s past.
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A walk along the beach became a history lesson for a Brick Township family as their rescue dog found a massive prehistoric bone.
The rare find then found its way first into a classroom and now a museum so we can learn more about New Jersey’s past.
When Matt Gregg took his German Shorthaired Pointer named Charley Brown for a run on Bay Head Beach after the January storm, the rescue pooch returned with the artifact.
"Charlie was chewing on the bone. He's a dog. He gets in trouble a lot. He brings a lot of things back to me,” said Gregg.
After first thinking it was a giant ground sloth bone, scientists at the Edelman Fossil Park and Museum in Gloucester County positively identified it as a femur belonging to an ancient New Jersey walrus dating back at least 10,000 years, unearthed by the storms or recent replenishment.
“I said, 'Is it worth like over $15,000?' and my dad was like, 'Ehh I don't think so,'” said the younger Matt.
Eight-year-old Matt decided against a quick payday and took it to his classroom at Spring Lake Heights Elementary School for a show-and-tell.
“Now I want to find all different things that stand out,” he said.
Like many 8-year-olds, this second grader was already into dinosaurs, so he wanted to learn more about the find. He crafted his first email and sent it off to the museum. It responded with an invite to the entire family.
“This is the head of the femur which would fit into the hip sockets, and this would be the knee joint right here,” explained Dr. Zachary Boles, the assistant curator of Edelman Fossil Park and Museum in Gloucester County.
Dr. Boles says the quality is outstanding and believes findings like these are so important in teaching the history of our state. The femur is now part of the museum's display for the next several weeks
“When the climate was much colder during the Ice Age and then interglacial periods when it warmed up, you can see how the animals expanded their ranges at that time,” said Dr. Boles.
For his efforts, Charlie Brown received a reward of bonus runs – and young Matt learned a valuable lesson in finding fossils.
“It made me feel like a kid again; it was pretty neat,” said the elder Matt.
“Thousands of people can look at it and say this is pretty cool,” said his son.
The family says they'll hold on to the fossil after they retrieve it from the museum. Young Matt's ultimate goal is to find a megalodon tooth.
