Scarborough Public Library Maxen Ryder
SCARBOROUGH — On April 5, visual artist and author Gary Hoyle spoke about his new book “Mystery Tusk, Searching for Elephants in the Maine Woods.” Hoyle is the former curator of Natural History at the Maine State Museum.
The presentation was virtual and was presented by the Scarborough Public Library with Friends of Scarborough Marsh.
The book is about the discovery of a massive tusk on a Scarborough farmer’s property back in 1959. In an excavation in the 1990s, Hoyle and a crew found more remains to be studied. Theories were formed about the origin, with the consensus being that they were from an elephant. There are historical accounts of small circus groups that moved through Maine in the 1800s, including the death of an elephant, which offered one explanation.
However, scientific study and research ultimately revealed the remains to belong to a wooly mammoth instead. Hoyle’s book is on the background, study, research, and final verification of this project.
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