According to The Guardian on September 15, marine fossils dating back 8.7 million years have been discovered beneath a high school in San Pedro, located in southern Los Angeles, California (USA).
The two fossil sites include a layer of bones from the Miocene epoch (Middle Miocene) that is 8.7 million years old and a layer of shells dating back 120,000 years from the Pleistocene epoch (Late Pleistocene).
Fossilized lower jaw of a sabertooth salmon found beneath San Pedro High School in Los Angeles (USA). (Photo: Envicom Corp).
Additionally, researchers uncovered vertebrae fossils, ribs from a dolphin species, and jaw bones from an extinct sabertooth salmon, along with hundreds of small fish vertebrae.
According to LAist, these discoveries were made between June 2022 and July 2024.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Richard Behl, a geologist from California State University, Long Beach, stated that researchers are currently testing the chemical and mineral composition of the fossils. Behl noted that scientists are working to find and piece together the clues, adding that the Miocene fossils are encapsulated in diatomaceous earth.
“This represents an entire ecosystem from a bygone era. We have all this evidence to help future researchers reconstruct what the entire ecosystem looked like nearly 9 million years ago. That’s truly rare,” said Wayne Bischoff, Director of Cultural Resources at Envicom Corporation (USA).
The fossils have been distributed to various research and educational organizations, including the Los Angeles Unified School District, Cabrillo Aquarium in San Pedro, California State University, and the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum.
