Ancient mammoth fossil discovered on river bed

The remains of what is believed to be an ancient mammoth have been discovered in Bulgaria.

Record low river levels caused by recent heat waves on the Danube river revealed the unusual find on the river bed.

It was a local resident of Ryahovo village that spotted the remains, before villagers then alerted specialists.

The specialists from the Regional History Museum in the ​nearby town of Ruse then sent experts to the site.

The director of the museum, Nikolay Nenov, told BTA news agency that those experts recognised a lower jaw, two tusks and possibly a mammoth rib.

Experts are returning to the site to remove the bones to allow them to find out more about the animal and its history.

"I would not call it a sensation, but any discovery of such ancient remains is very important for science," Nenov said.

He believes that the site where the remains were found was a swamp where the animal would have died thousands of years ago.