San Diego 2nd Mammoth Tusk Found At Construction Site
2nd Mammoth Tusk Found At SD Construction Site
SAN DIEGO -- Scientists have found a second mammoth tusk at the construction site for the new Thomas Jefferson School of Law in downtown San Diego's East Village, it was reported Friday.
The tusk, discovered Thursday, is the second of its kind to be found at the site this week, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
An 8-foot-long mammoth tusk was uncovered Wednesday about 20 feet below ground level by a backhoe operators, according to Chris Saunders, a spokesman for the law school.
A paleontologist on scene immediately stopped the digging, and experts from the San Diego Natural History Museum were called in to take over the unearthing process, according to Saunders.
Scientists from the museum then discovered a skull and other bones, according to Saunders."It was the first mammoth skull ever found in San Diego County," said Tom Demere, the curator of the museum's Department of Paleontology.
According to Demere, the remains are those of a Columbian mammoth, which roamed the Earth about 500,000 years ago.
The process of digging out all of the remains will take several days, before the mammoth will be put on display at the Balboa Park museum, according to the law school.
Workers excavating at the site of a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in downtown in 2007 also found the tusk of a mammoth.
Construction on the $68.5 million, eight-story building at 11th and Island avenues is scheduled to be completed by the 2010-2011 school year.
The building will house the Thomas Jefferson School of Law
