In July, fossils up to 200,000 years old were discovered at a construction site in Carlsbad, California, where more than 600 houses are set to be built. After the discovery the construction work has been stopped for sometime to work on the fossils found. More than 500 fossils were unearthed at the dam construction site in Silicon Valley in California. The incredible finds included teeth from what could be the biggest prehistoric shark that ever lived, measuring close to 40 feet.
Paleontologists had also found the teeth of an animal called the Desmostylus, which is a long-extinct hippo-like creature, as well as an entire ancient whale skeleton. Most of the fossils are believed to be about 20 million years old.
Californians have witnessed some of the oldest fossils the world has seen.
There have been rare fossils found in California earlier also. A rare whale fossil has been pulled from a Southern California backyard with some unusual help—a sheriff’s search-and-rescue team.
Local Native Americans devised myths to explain local fossils, many containing themes paralleling modern scientific discoveries. Local fossils came to the attention of formally trained scientists by the mid-19th century. Major finds include the Pleistocene mammalfossils of the La Brea tar pits. The Pleistocene saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis is the California state fossil. The earliest fossils known in Southern California are found in the Kingston Range of the far northeastern Mojave Desert.
Some facts on fossils in California:
In 1856 a new upper Miocene deposit preserving the remains of 18-inch oysters was discovered in the Kirker Pass of Contra Costa County. Between 1906 and 1916 hundreds of thousands of Pleistocene fossils were uncovered in central Los Angeles. In 1942 early Pleistocene fossils were discovered in gravel pits at Irvington. In 1963, Samuel Welles of the University of California, Berkeley collected a dugongid called Dusisiren. This specimen is the most complete known Miocene sirenian
Since 2011, when work on the project began, crews have found nine whale skulls, to be exact. paleontologist Jim Walker and construction crews building a new 220-foot-high dam at Calaveras Reservoir in the remote canyons east of Milpitas had dug up a prehistoric treasure trove. They have inventoried 529 types of fossils altogether. Of those, 168 are vertebrates, such as sharks; 267 are invertebrates, such as scallops — some as big as dinner plates. Thirty-nine 39 are plants, such as fossilized pine cones; and 55 are other ancient items, from animal tracks to burrows.
In California, local fossils came to the attention of formally trained scientists by the mid-19th century. Major finds include the Pleistocene mammal fossils of the La Brea tar pits. The Pleistocene saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis is the California state fossil.
Scientists from the University of California at Berkeley, notably Professor John C. Merriamand his students, were among the first researchers to work on the La Brea fossils in California that has excited paleontologists from around the world.
paleontologist Jim Walker, who is working alongside construction crews on the project, said, “We started finding fossils here before construction even started,” “It was exciting. We were finding scallops, and I said, ‘I want to get a whale.’ And we did.”
The site where the fossils were found is a new home development site. The development plans have been slightly modified since the discovery of ice age fossils at the construction site off State Route 78 with the work temporarily stopped to allow scientists to begin their excavation. The company is working closely with the paleontologists while grading, and will continue for another couple of months.
Tom Demere, the curator of palaeontology at the San Diego Museum of Natural History, “The fossils were discovered in July and that there may be more at the site. This time period is known as the Pleistioncene Epoch, or Ice Age.
A prehistoric bison was unearthed at the site, which makes it the second one ever discovered in San Diego County. Also found at the site were bones of mammoths, turtles, and even horses.
Building construction for the Quarry Creek development is planned to begin next year, and will be the first of six developments and will be made up of 88 two-story row homes.
The Quarry Creek development site covers about 60 acres of land, after the grading began over the summer, the discovery of bones began. California requires a palaeontologist on site when large projects like this are moving mass amounts of earth.
John Suster, the superintendent of the Cornerstone’s project in Carlsbad, said he was surprised to see the fossils but also found it quite intriguing.
The skull and partial skeleton of the bison that was discovered is one of the more rare finds. Authorities say that this bison was one of the more complete animals that were unearthed and found at the site. These giant bisons are larger than plains bison that we normally see. The scientists believe that it is either a giant bison or an antique bison.
Source : natureworldreport
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