Workers at a construction site in Oceanside, California, found several bones of a large hoofed mammal about 12 feet underground in September. Paleontologists estimate the fossils are 40–45 million years old; the species has not yet been identified.
A city statement said principal paleontologist Joseph El Adli discovered the bones during routine monitoring. He and his team spent a week exposing a femur, ribs and other bones beneath several tons of hardened mudstone and sandstone, then encased them in plaster jackets and took them to a lab.
El Adli said the animal may have been a titanother or an amynodon, two extinct types of hoofed mammal; the identification is not confirmed. The plaster jackets will be removed and the fossils stabilized, and the specimens are expected to join a museum collection. The city is withholding the discovery site’s location to protect public safety and the site.
