We’re incredibly lucky that in California, there are such strict mitigation so that there is requirement for there to be a paleontologist anytime you’re digging in native soils. That way, any fossil or artifact that peaks out of that dirt is seen immediately and can be saved. These laws don’t exist everywhere, and so fossils are probably being lost all the time. Some of the most interesting discoveries include a well preserved skull from the mammoth nicknamed Haydon.

Here is the skull of a giant sloth, and vertebrae and bones from giant saber-toothed cats and dire wolfs. Stopping work to dig up fossils can be expensive, but LA official Dave Sottero says the paleontologists, the city and the excavation contractors generally figured out a way to get the fossils out of the ground, and get the work done. I think in California we have the distinction is having the most stringent environmental rules anywhere in the country and possibly the world. So it behooves us to work very closely with the paleontologists to work very closely with the contractor, and develop a set of best practices that will help us preserve the fossil record but still get our project done.

The fossils provide a great look at this region 20, 30 and even 50 thousand years ago. Paleontologist Emily Lindsey says they can teach us about some issues we are dealing with today. Climate change which is something that caused great interests to people today, and was also something that the world’s experiencing, when those of these large animals when they extinct, and also how human activities can impact ecosystems, because around the time that humans arrived in the Americas is also around the time that we see most of those big animals that people are so excited about finding here go extinct. The new fossils will go on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

As for the new subway system, it will not be ready for the passengers until 2027. Plenty of time to find more fossils.

Kevin Enochs, VOA News.