Robert Mee, a fossil hunter, found a 1.9-inch penis-shaped object on Norfolk beach, where the skeleton of the 700,000-year-old West Runton mammoth was found 27 years ago.
Some people had presumed it must be a fossil of the mammoth’s penis, whereas experts dismissed it as a trace fossil- such as animal feces.
A fossil hunter, Robert Mee, has reportedly found a 6-centimeter penis-looking stone on Norfolk beach on the same coastline where the skeleton of the 700,000-year-old West Runton mammoth was discovered just under 30 years ago.
Comments About the Find
Mee later posted about his discovery on Facebook in order to ask for help in identifying the object. He received interesting responses:
Niall Thorogood, who found a mammoth tooth on West Runton Beach in April commented saying: “Odd shape.”
Richard Rockett said: “It looks like a fossilized phallus.”
Alison Cramp said: “Elephant penis?”
However, people on Facebook culture can often lead to uncorroborated presumptions about things like these. Some experts have dismissed the stone as a “trace fossil”- such as animal feces- rather than an actual preserved fossil.
Jamie Jordan, who works at Fossils Galore, said: “After taking a close look at this one I believe it to be banded flint. Possibly a coral from the flint.”
One person on Facebook had commented: “Sorry to be a bringer of bad news, but I think that is a pseudo fossil, mud/ironstone concretion”.
The West Runton Mammoth
The male West Runton mammoth stood to be about four meters tall at the shoulder and weight between 10 to 12 tonnes, almost twice the weight of the modern African elephant.
The average size of the mammoth’s penis is currently unknown. However, its closest relative, the elephant, is known to have one of the largest penises on earth, at almost six feet when erect.