Experts Find Rare Fossils of Ancient Dogs, Like What? page all

KOMPAS.com – Experts found fossil rare dogs ancient site in a construction project area in the Otay Ranch area of ​​San Diego County.

Around 14,000 years ago, the first humans crossed the Bering Strait into North America with the domesticated dogs they used for hunting.

But long before domesticated dogs arrived with humans, there was already a species in America ancient dog who live and hunt in the prairies and forests of America.

This is evidenced by the finding of a rare and almost complete fossil skeleton of one of the extinct ancient dog species.

Quoted from PhysThursday (5/5/2022) the fossil belongs to a group of animals called Archeocyons which means ancient dogs.

Fossil it was found inside two large boulders of sandstone and mudstone excavated in 2019 at a construction project in the Otay Ranch area of ​​San Diego County.

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The rare ancient dog fossils date back to the late Oligocene and are believed to be 24 to 28 million years old.

This ancient fossil is also an advantage for scientists because it can provide information about ancient dogs that lived tens of millions of years ago in America.

For example, do they walk like modern dogs, where do they live, and what food they prey on, and so on.

Expert discover rare ancient dog fossil this by accident. Pat Sena, paleo observer of the San Diego Museum of Natural History is surveying rocks on a project.

When he saw what looked like bone fragments protruding from some of the rocks that were excavated. He marked it and transferred the rare fossil of this ancient dog to the museum.

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The rock research was then continued by San Diego museum curatorial assistant Amanda Linn using small chisels and cutting tools and brushes to gradually peel away layers of rock.

Fossilized cheekbones and teeth visible from later rock suggest that the fossilized animal was an ancient dog species.

The two parts then helped researchers identify that the fossils were Archeocyons.

Furthermore, the new fossil of this ancient dog is completely intact, except for part of its long tail.

Some of its bones have been mixed up, perhaps as a result of the movement of the earth after the animal died.

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However, the skull, teeth, spine, feet, ankles and toes are complete, providing a wealth of information about the evolutionary changes of Archeocyons.

Researchers say that Archeocyon has a body size similar to a modern gray fox with long legs and a small head.

Dogs These ancients have adapted to chase their prey across open grasslands.

Its strong, muscular tail may also be used for balance when running and making sharp turns.

From the analysis of the bones of this ancient dog fossil, experts also suspect there are indications from its legs that the dog may also be able to climb trees.

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