Cache of Ice Age Fossils Discovered in Los Angeles

Scientists at the Page Museum have discovered the largest cache of Ice Age fossils extracted from the La Brea Tar Pits since their original excavations over a century ago.

Among the discoveries are the preserved skeletal remains of a near-complete Colombian mammoth, an American lion, saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, bison, horses, teratorn, coyotes and ground sloths as well as numerous smaller animals such as ancient turtles, small mammals, snails and insects. All the remains were found embedded in the asphalt of Rancho La Brea, and this find alone is expected to double the Ice Age collection of the Page Museum.

Paleontologists initially discovered 16 deposits during a dig in 2006 for the construction of an underground parking facility. Instead of being excavated on-site, because of construction deadlines the finds were boxed into 23 large separate containers and carefully removed, thus naming the discovery "Project 23." Scientists have been excavating the contents of the containers in the laboratory ever since.

These results were announced on February 18th by the Page Museum.

Source: Yahoo!