Posted on 04/07/2005 9:28:36 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
MOORPARK, Calif. - The remarkably well-preserved remnants of an estimated half-million-year-old mammoth - including both tusks - were discovered at a new housing development in Southern California.
An onsite paleontologist found the remains, which include 50 percent to 70 percent of the Ice Age creature, as crews cleared away hillsides to prepare for building, Mayor Pro Tem Clint Harper said.
Paleontologist Mark Roeder estimated the mammoth was about 12 feet tall, Harper said. Roeder believed it was not a pygmy or imperial mammoth, but he had not yet determined its exact type, Harper said.
"It's considered a very significant find, and it's a very complete fossil. It's unusual because it was found all the way down near the bedrock," Harper said. "We asked if carbon dating could be used and they said no way, it's too old."
Harper said the first bones were spotted several days ago and a special crew was called in after Roeder found more remnants, including the 6- and 7-foot-long tusks.
"They've been encased in plaster and burlap and removed from the site," Harper said.
Moorpark in Ventura County is about 30 miles west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
"The Moorpark mammoth, that's what we'll call it," Harper said.
Other Ice Age creatures have been found in recent years around Southern California, including a mastodon in Simi Valley, a mammoth in Oceanside and a pygmy mammoth on the Channel Islands.
Thanks!
Ain't no place like FR , to get your fossil updates while we fossilize at our keyboards. :-)
I bet those pygmy mammoths were cute little buggers.
The contractor is one of Arnie's largest contributors, William Lyon Homes.
>>I bet those pygmy mammoths were cute little buggers.
ROFL!
Largest per capita population of police officers in the country too. ;o)
Cute! ;-)
Yup, imagine finding something that big, that would be a thrill.. and then multiply it by about 10 , some of those fellas got huge..
Catch ya on the flip side.. I'm bush'd..
I thought Teddy resided in MA?
Ventura County Ping!
Mammoth skeleton found in Southern California? More evidence of how much time has passed since the Republicans ran the State... Why couldn't it have been a pre-historic @ss?
That's not the way it works here in Santa Cruz. Both the control and the wealth accrues to the extortionist in charge. The mammoth is an entitlement for otherwise unemployable academics.
What is it about the Valley, anyways. Gag me with a spoon.
There are some burnt pygmy mammoth bones found in the Channel Islands that are over 100,000 years old that look to be butchered and cooked...controversal to say the least.
"Fossil record reveals evidence of Republicans in So.Cal area."
;>
Maybe she ate them.
'Arlington Springs Woman', 13,000 Years Old Human Skeleton Found On California Island
OH NO!!! NOT POLICE OFFICERS!! Can't have a bunch of them living in one place. What would happen! Oh, wait, I know. Safest city in America many times running. By the by, it's MOORPARK. And that ain't Simi.
Yes, but like most Dwarves, they had hair trigger tempers. They were known to be mean drunks, and used their trunks to wield stone axes they took from the cave people they stomped in bar fights. They especially took umbrage at any criticism of their musical abilities on Karaoke Night, when they would hog the stage, trumpeting.
Probably the last mistake you would ever make would be to pat one an the head, and make a comment about its 'cuteness'.
Also, making things dicey, and adding to many misunderstandings, both the males & females have beards.
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