A man walking in a small Northwest Territories community has stumbled across what paleontologists believe could be the carcass of a steppe bison that roamed before the last Ice Age.
Shane Van Loon displays the ancient animal skull he found last week in Tsiigehtchic, about 230 kilometres south of Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories. Paleontologists believe the animal was a steppe bison that lived more than 20,000 years ago.
(CBC)The remains of the beast were uncovered in the permafrost near an eroding cliff, said Shane Van Loon, who first came across the pre-historic find last week while walking along the riverbank in Tsiigehtchic, about 230 kilometres south of Tuktoyaktuk.
Van Loon said something strange was jutting out of the permafrost from an eroding cliff, so he climbed up for a closer inspection and noticed the frozen animal hide and bone, as well as a large-horned skull that measures one metre wide from horn to horn.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Remains of ancient beast found in N.W.T. permafrost
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