The Waco Mammoth National Monument on Thursday celebrated its 10th anniversary with kid-friendly activities and a meet-and-greet with Paul Barron, who discovered the first remains as a teenage explorer. Forty-seven years after his discovery, the site attracts tens of thousands of visitors a year and helps scientists understand Ice Age history. Twenty-two Columbian mammoths have been unearthed, including the only known nursery herd found together. Site officials Thursday said the long-held hypothesis of a flood that killed the herd some 70,000 years ago now has a competing explanation: The animals may have lived through an immense drought, seeking food and water before succumbing to starvation.
