Unexpected find

Unexpected find

Credit: Metro

Construction for a new subway expansion in Los Angeles has yielded several treasures for paleontologists. In April 2017, workers came across the bones of an ancient camel and a Probiscidean, such as a mammoth or a mastodon, just months after workers unearthed the skull of a large Probiscidean in November 2016. [Read full story about the ice-age camel and Probiscidean bones uncovered in Los Angeles]

[Read full story about the Probiscidean skull]

Probiscidean bone

Probiscidean bone

Credit: Cogstone Resource Management Inc.

Jasmyn Nolasco (left) and Janis Basuga (right) put the leg bone of either a mammoth or mastodon (it's unclear which) into a protective plaster cast in April 2017.

Yesterday's camel

Yesterday's camel

Credit: Courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

A drawing of Camelops, Latin for "yesterday's camel."

Ancient camel

Ancient camel

Credit: Cogstone Resource Management Inc.

The 20-inch-long (50 centimeters) radioulna bone from the extinct camel species Camelops hesternus discovered in April 2017.

Up close

Up close

Credit: Metro

A close-up of a mammoth or mastodon tusk that was found underground as workers were digging a new line for the Los Angeles Metro subway system in November 2016.

Giant tusk

Giant tusk

Credit: Metro

Here, another view of the giant tusk that was found while digging a new line for the Los Angeles Metro system in November 2016.

Excavation

Excavation

Credit: Metro

A paleontologist working on site carefully excavates the fossils from Ice Age beasts that were recently found underneath Los Angeles as workers were digging a new subway tunnel in November 2016.

Mastodon skull

Mastodon skull

Credit: Metro

The paleontologists carefully dusted off the mammoth or mastodon skull in order to safely take it from the ground. Workers recently discovered the bones while digging a new subway tunnel for the Los Angeles Metro in November 2016.

Plastering bones

Plastering bones

Credit: Metro

Once the bones were excavated, paleontologists quickly plastered the bones to protect them. They will eventually be housed at the Los Angeles County Museum for Natural History.