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Mammoth Dig Meticulous Fossil May Be Up to Million Years Old - No Bones About It

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 April 2005, 00:00 CDT

Paleontologist Julie Brodie spent Friday meticulously mapping the 24- by-24-foot area of what is now known as the "Moorpark mammoth" fossil site.

"That's how we keep track of what's coming out," said Brodie, of San Bernardino. "It's completely controlled."

A skull. Teeth. Tusks. Ribs. Foot bones.

All remains of a fossilized mammoth believed to be up to a million years old - probably older and smaller than the beasts found at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

The nearly intact skeleton was discovered last week in Moorpark on a construction site where hundreds of homes are being built. Experts say it was an adult mammoth that stood 12 feet tall, weighed several tons and had 8-foot-long tusks.

As of Friday morning, about 70 percent of the bones had been encased in plaster and removed from the site, bound to a lab for further testing.

"There's a sense of discovery," Brodie said. "Like you're looking at something that hasn't been looked at for 1 million years. Part of it is imagination ... it's stimulating."

Construction workers on March 29 nicked a part of a bone fragment during routine grading on the 350-acre development site north of Moorpark, said on-site paleontologist Trevor Lindsey.

The area was immediately shut down as Lindsey searched for more bones. The next day, he found an eight-foot-long tusk.

"I was trying to brush away the dirt to see what we had," said Lindsey, of Camarillo. "As soon as I saw multiple bones and tusks, I knew it was an important find."

The skeleton is very rare, experts say.

The sedimentation surrounding the dig suggests it is very old - probably from the Pleistocene Epoch. The fossil was in the Saugus Formation, a soil layer between 500,000 and 1.8 million years old.

Judging from the size and shape of the teeth, paleontologists speculate this could be a species they've never seen before. If it is, some have suggested that it be dubbed "Trevor Mammoth," for the paleontologist who first spotted it.

"There's always that possibility," Lindsey said. "Mammoths on this formation is a one-in-a-billion chance."

What makes the find such a rarity is that all the bones are confined to the same area, said paleontologist Mark Roeder, who is heading the recovery efforts.

"In some cases, we might find a tooth or a leg bone," he said. "From this animal we have teeth, tusks, limb bones, foot bones, ribs, a skull."

Further tests will determine the fossil's age. Dirt around the fossil dig will be transported to the lab where experts will search for rodents or gophers, for example. All clues that will help detect the creature's exact age.

Paleontologists believe the construction site was an old river valley.

"This was a muddy pond and it got stuck," Roeder said. "He fell over in mud and got buried."

It will take about a year before the mammoth is displayed at a museum. The find will most likely be displayed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.

Although the city is exploring the possibility of showcasing a replica in the future, said Moorpark Assistant City Manager Hugh Riley.

"People are calling saying we should have a 'Mammoth Festival,'" Riley said. "The ideas are flying."

Angie Valencia-Martinez, (805) 583-7604

angie.valencia(at)dailynews.com

Source: Daily News; Los Angeles, Calif.

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