9-million-year-old marine fossils discovered beneath California highschool throughout development

Tens of millions of prehistoric marine fossils have been found beneath a California highschool over the course of a multi-year development undertaking.

The relics recovered at San Pedro Excessive College included elements of whales, enamel from megalodon sharks, saber-toothed salmon, and different fish that date again to 9 million years in the past.

“We realized we had thousands and thousands of bones from sea creatures of all types, principally fish, but in addition sea mammals, sea turtles, shorebirds, kelp and different forms of seaweed and invertebrates like shells and stuff multi functional place,” Dr. Wayne Bischoff, director of cultural sources at Envicom Company, informed ABC7.

“And it represents a whole ecology of the ocean 9 thousands and thousands of years in the past.”

The fossils have been first uncovered in the course of the faculty’s modernization undertaking, which started in 2022.

The primary discover was unearthed in June 2022 beneath the varsity’s major courtyard, with discoveries persevering with by means of June 2024, in keeping with the LAist.

“We imagine there was a submarine channel that was carrying materials down from shallower water into deeper water and volcanism happening someplace within the neighborhood,” Dr. Austin Hendy, assistant curator on the Pure Historical past Museum of Los Angeles County, informed ABC7.

“This was an enormous shock to all people after they began digging these trenches to unearth these fish fossils.”

For some college students, the invention gave them one thing to inform their mother and father if requested how faculty was going — and for others, it paved the way in which for sudden skilled alternatives.

“They wanted somebody from right here to assist with it and I’ve all the time needed to work on the museum. In order quickly as the chance got here up, I seized it and it’s simply been superb,” Milad Esfahani, a senior at San Pedro Excessive College and an intern on the Pure Historical past Museum of Los Angeles County informed ABC7.

To this point, the analysis group finding out the discoveries mentioned they’ve recognized 200 species up to now, however that it might take as much as a yr to find out what all of them are.