Ill. boy finds mammoth bone while fishing in river

GREENUP, Ill. -- Josh Brandenburg almost tossed the old bone he found while fishing in the Embarras River back into the muddy water. Probably from a cow, he thought.

But the 12-year-old from Greenup in central Illinois decided to keep it. He and the Illinois State Museum are glad he did.

The bone is a vertebra from the neck of one of the largest mammoths ever found in Illinois.

Brandenburg gave the bone to the Illinois State Museum. Officials there said the creature lived anywhere from 13,000 to 24,000 years ago. Marks on the bone suggest the mammoth was food for another animal or prehistoric man.

Brandenburg's dad, David, said the bone made the family's summer. Now, he said, all his children are on the hunt for scientific finds.