Workers find fossils

These stories in the news today trumped what I was going to write about...

Padre Hurtaldo, Chile
Construction workers building a hydroelectric power plant beside a river noticed the pointed end of a tusk that turned out to belong to the skull of a giant mastodon. The beast died 2 million years ago when it sunk in a swamp. "Practically the whole skull is complete and in perfect conditions, with its four molars and together with both tusks of almost four feet in length. In addition, inside the skull one was part of the vertebrae of the spine," said paleontologist Rafael Labarca. This is Chile’s 1st discovery of a complete mastodon skull.

Fort McMurray, Alb., Canada
Shovel operator Shawn Funk was clearing ground ahead of development in the vast Canadian oil sands when he recognized something unusual. In fact, he may have been predisposed, since he had visited the Royal Tyrrell Museum to see the dinosaurs only the week before. The man unearthed the fossil of an ankylosaur 16 1/2' (5M) long, estimated to be 110 million years old. The herbivore had powerful limbs, armor plating, and a club-like tail. "It is pretty amazing that it survived in such good condition. It is also the earliest complete dinosaur that we have from this province," said curator Donald Henderson. Scientists have been given 3 weeks to excavate the 3-dimensional skeleton.