Mammoths arrived on what is now North America around one million years ago and evolved into the Columbian mammoth, which stood over 14-feet tall and weighed around 20,000 pounds, according to the National Park Service.

A major difference between the woolly mammoth and the Columbian mammoth was the latter did not have much hair because North America was relatively warmer than the rest of the world.

The team of researchers believe the tusk is the oldest well-preserved mammoth tusk ever discovered in North America, as initial test of it show it's at least 100,000 years old. 

"Mammoth remains from continental North America are particularly rare, and so we expect that DNA from this tusk will go far to refine what we know about mammoths in this part of the world."