A farmer named Wayne McEwen was digging on his property at Ellis County, Texas along with his son, Marty, when they stumbled upon a prehistoric treasure.

Marty, who was operating an excavator, hit a portion of a fossilized tusk. He knew immediately he'd found something special.

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It turns out that what the father and son dug up was an ancient treasure.

The bones were examined later on by paleontologists who said the remains were those of a massive animal approximately 40, 000 to 60,000 years old.

Paleontologists have determined the bones are those of a 9-foot tall Columbian mammoth that lived during the Quaternary period. It appeared in North America throughout the Late Pleistocene Epoch.

Paleontologists as well as volunteers from the Perot Museum of Nature and Science located in Dallas will spend a few weeks to piece the skeleton together.

A paleontologist said a specimen like the one found at the McEwen's property is a great opportunity to obtain a more accurate picture of what these animals were like before.

The bones found have been wrapped and will be moved to a laboratory for further study.

Marty said he knew there were things on his property but never imagined there was a mammoth buried here. He added that if he actually dug into the sand, he might have hit both the tusks and the skull.

Wayne farms the land and sells sand and gravel from his property. He called the people from the Perot Museum.

A lot of people showed up at their doorstep after the find. Wayne said he was surprised by the number of people interested in seeing such a treasure.

TagsMammoth, skeleton, Texas, Dallas, Perot Museum, Treasure, found, Wayne McEwen