Environment
Oceanside water project uncovers 40-million-year-old mammal fossils
Bones found in the Santiago Formation may belong to a brontothere, known as a “thunder beast,” or an amynodont, sometimes called a “swamp rhino.”
The City of Oceanside announced September 22 that crews working on a water infrastructure project uncovered fossilized bones from a large hoofed mammal that lived 40 million to 45 million years ago. Consulting paleontologist Joseph El Adli said the remains may belong to a brontothere or an amynodont, two extinct mammal groups from the Eocene Epoch. Scientists have not yet made a final identification.
What it means locally
The bones were found roughly 12 feet below the surface in the fossil-rich Santiago Formation. Paleontologists spent more than a week carefully exposing the remains from hardened mudstone and sandstone, then protected them in a plaster field jacket for transport to a laboratory.
Researchers plan to remove the bones from the surrounding rock, stabilize them with museum-grade materials and study them before a likely transfer to a museum collection. The accompanying image shows a Megacerops skeleton in Los Angeles and is illustrative; it does not depict the Oceanside fossils or establish which animal was found.
Full report and further details: Read original report →