Costa Blanca
Remains of a prehistoric mastodon found at a site in Crevillent
By m.p. - Oct 2, 2007 - 6:55 PM
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Scientists from the Palaeontology Museum in Elche have uncovered the fossilised remains of a type of prehistoric mastodon at a dig in Crevillent which, according to the EFE news agency, could be as much as eight million years old, from the Late Miocene period.
The mastodon was a relative of the woolly mammoth, but fed on leaves rather than grazing, as the mammoth did.
The co-director of the CR2 site, José Esteban, while giving no specifics of the find, gave some indication of their size when he said a mobile crane was needed to move them.
Scientists have now started the lengthy process of studying the remains and comparing them with others found elsewhere in the world to discover if it could be a previously unknown species.
The CR2 site has uncovered more than 40 species of vertebrate since work first began there in the mid 1980s, with excavations taking place on an annual basis since 2005.
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