The skeleton of Peale's Mastodon at the Hessian State Museum in Kassel, Germany, was prepared to be sent to the U.S. for the first time as workers disassembled it on Thursday. /VCG Photo

The skeleton was excavated by American painter and scientist Charles Willson Peale in the Hudson River Valley in the U.S. state of New York in 1801. The discovery garnered wide attention among scientists in both America and Europe. /VCG Photo

American President Thomas Jefferson considered the excavations a national affair. /VCG Photo

The skeleton will be exhibited on loan at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in early 2020. /VCG Photo