A Man Pulled a Massive Prehistoric Bone Emerges From a U.S. Riverbed

On February 13, Jason Howery, a fossil hunter in Missouri, stunned viewers after hauling a massive prehistoric bone from a river near Ravenwood. The discovery, believed to belong to a mammoth or mastodon, was captured on video and quickly drew national attention. The footage shows Howery wading into the water and physically pulling the enormous bone from the riverbed, revealing what he claims is a thighbone from one of the Ice Age giants.

A Dramatic Riverbank Discovery

The central moment of the story is simple but striking: a man standing in a Missouri river, gripping a bone so large it dwarfs his arms. As seen in the video posted by The New York Post, Jason Howery entering shallow water to recover the bone, later stating that it weighed 80 pounds. identified the fossil as a femur belonging to either a mammoth or a mastodon.

According to 6abc Philadelphia, Howery said the discovery aligns with his long-term independent research on ancient megafauna and forms part of his effort to expand the Paleo Outreach Program, aimed at educating students and the wider community.

Rather than leaving it submerged, he pulled it free from the riverbed, an effort that underscored the bone’s scale and weight. The video, shared courtesy of Storyful, captures sediment washing off the surface as the object emerges fully into view.

From Fossil Hunting To Viral Moment

The case was reported in an article published by Daily Caller, written by Andrew Powell, a blogger specialising in sports and weather. He described the scene as being “on another level,” noting that he had covered exotic hunting before but nothing comparable to retrieving a prehistoric bone from a river.

A prehistoric-bone hunter could not believe his eyes, when he found a massive femur in a river near, which he said was probably from a mammoth or mastodon. pic.twitter.com/pHC1ofWdfX

— Storyful (@Storyful) February 18, 2026

Beyond the immediate spectacle, the discovery tapped into a broader fascination with the Ice Age. In his commentary, Andrew Powell reflected on his long-standing interest in the era, recalling the video game Carnivores: Ice Age as an early source of intrigue.