After Severe Drought
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California
storms unearth ancient fossils
Dotted on the beaches
and in the sandstone cliffs in the Bay area, scientists have found fossils that
date back to anywhere from 5,000 to 10 million years ago, according to The
San Francisco Chronicle.
Marine biologist
Giancarlo Thomae was among them. He found a megalodon tooth on a public beach
in Santa Cruz County that could be as many as 10 million years old. The tooth
came from what would have been the prehistoric equivalent of a 60-foot great
white shark. Earlier, Thomae discovered a great
white shark tooth that was estimated to be 4 million years old.
Other discoveries
dating back millions of years included the tooth of an extinct mammal
(Paleoparadoxia) that was similar to a hippopotamus, ribs from an extinct
Steller's sea cow, teeth from an extinct species of sea lion and 20 species of
ancient sharks.
The region
is known as a hotbed for fossils and finds like
this are common after big Pacific storms. The area was once a sea floor and
scientists have found marine deposits that are 10 million to 12 million years
old.
Previously, a tooth
from a saber-toothed cat, likely more than 10,000 years old, was found by
national park ranger Steve Prokop in the cliffs at Fort Funston in San
Francisco, the newspaper reported.
Along with beaches,
volcanic ash deposits in cliff walls that face the beach have also proven prime
fossil sites, as have other sites further inland. Searching the foothills of
the Santa Cruz Mountains, Thomae also found an ancient bison tooth estimated to
be about 5,000 years old.
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