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Giant sloth remains found in Los Angeles | Giant sloth remains found in Los Angeles |
(about 11 hours later) | |
Fossils found by workers digging a tunnel for a new railway line in Los Angeles have been identified as the remains of a giant sloth and a bison. | Fossils found by workers digging a tunnel for a new railway line in Los Angeles have been identified as the remains of a giant sloth and a bison. |
The "amazing discovery" of a sloth's hip bone and a fragment of a bison's radius bone was made about 16ft (5m) below ground in Park Mesa Heights. | The "amazing discovery" of a sloth's hip bone and a fragment of a bison's radius bone was made about 16ft (5m) below ground in Park Mesa Heights. |
Scientists say the Harlan's Ground Sloth could have weighed 1,500lb (680kg), and been up to 10ft in length. | |
The sloth and bison species have been extinct for at least 10,000 years. | |
The discovery was made on 16 May and it took scientists at the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum about eight days to identify them. | The discovery was made on 16 May and it took scientists at the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum about eight days to identify them. |
The bison and sloth probably lived about 11,000 to 40,000 years ago, in the late Pleistocene area, according to the Metro press release. | The bison and sloth probably lived about 11,000 to 40,000 years ago, in the late Pleistocene area, according to the Metro press release. |
Other ancient large mammals that became extinct follo around the same era - following the last ice age - include massive camels, mastadons and mammoths. | |
The remains of an ancient camel and a mastodon or mammoth were discovered earlier this year during excavation beneath Wilshire Boulevard as the city expanded the Metro's Purple Line. | The remains of an ancient camel and a mastodon or mammoth were discovered earlier this year during excavation beneath Wilshire Boulevard as the city expanded the Metro's Purple Line. |
The latest two fossils discovered are currently being held at the Paleo Solutions laboratory, and may later be transferred to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. |