Another set of fossils fuels excitement at a Metro dig
Crews find Ice Age bones at subway extension site
For the second time in five months, construction of the Metro Purple Line subway extension has led to the discovery of Ice Age fossils.
Crews found what turned out to be a camel bone and a bone from a mammoth or mastodon last week while working on the extension at Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, Metro spokesman Dave Sotero said Wednesday.
The mammoth or mastodon fossil was found April 12. It is about 36 inches long and is believed to be a femur of an Ice Age elephant.
Crews stumbled upon the second bone the next day, a 20-inch-long forearm camel bone, from the extinct Camelops hesternus.
“We’re really excited about the discovery,” Sotero said. Paleontologists have “indicated that it’s rare to find camel fossils in this area.”
Both fossils are from the Ice Age, at least 10,000 years old, Sotero said.
Because fossils are protected by law, Metro has an agreement with paleontologist services. Experts monitoring the excavation site were able to spot what they thought was bone material within the sediment, Sotero said.
Construction was diverted from the fossil area so the bones could be removed. They were preserved in plaster the same day, then taken to a lab in Riverside for identification and analysis.
Sotero said fossils found at the Wilshire BoulevardLa Brea Avenue station are eventually taken to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Any fossils uncovered at the Wilshire Boulevard-Fairfax Avenue station, also undergoing excavation, go to the Page Museum.
“The finds are just another example of what a fantastic place L.A. is for paleontology. We’ve got fossils pretty much everywhere we dig,” said Emily Lindsay, assistant curator at the La Brea Tar Pits. “It’s always great to find fossils from other locations to compare and see how representative the community we have here is.”
In November, a 3-foot section of tusk fragments, fragments of a mastodon tooth and a partial skull and tusks believed to belong to an ancient elephant were found at the Purple Line excavation site.