Los Angeles has been expanding its metro subway system to make it more efficient for residents, and possibly even cut down on some of that 405 traffic. The expansion has of course required some digging up of land, and interestingly it has revealed some pretty old fossils.
The city is made up of natural tar pits that have been seeping tar for thousands of years, and they prove to be pretty good spots for holding onto the remains of animals who are no longer.
At one area that will become an extension of the Purple Line near the La Brea Tar Pit, workers discovered a set of tusks and a skull from some sort of elephant that dates back to at least the Ice Age, which about 10,000 years ago.
They have also found a shattered tusk measuring in at three feet long, and a mastodon tooth. Both were buried about 15 feet deep when they were found.
Spokesman Dave Sotero said:
“This is significant; it’s the very first mammal fossils that have been found on the Purple Line extension project. We’ve unearthed and we’ve preserved L.A.’s prehistoric past as we build its future.”
