Tag: paleontology

Ancient bison skull found at San Diego stadium!

Today, down in the San Diego Natural History Museum’s basement Paleo Center, Mary was working on a fossil found in Mission Valley.

Visitors peering through the Paleo Center window could watch her as she removed tiny bits of sandstone from the partial skull (with horn cores and cervical vertebrae) of a Bison Latifrons, found in Ice Age stream deposits, and dating from 100,000 years ago.

She was using a small pneumatic chisel-like instrument to “clean” the fossil. It reminded me of my last dental appointment!

The ancient bison fossil was unearthed in 2020 while workers were excavating the parking lot of the old Qualcomm Stadium, getting ready for San Diego’s new Snapdragon Stadium! The ancient bison would have stood between seven and eight feet at the shoulder! Imagine it roaming eons ago in Mission Valley!

I learned The NAT has numerous unearthed fossils in line waiting to be expertly prepared. Fossils are frequently discovered at different construction sites around the city.

Right now the San Diego Natural History Museum is half open as it undergoes a monumental roof renovation. Fortunately the paleontology center on the lower level of the museum remains open. Follow various signs and you’ll find this Amazement in the Basement!

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Paleo Center opens at Natural History Museum!

The new Paleo Center had its soft opening today at the San Diego Natural History Museum!

The Tom Deméré Paleontology Center has opened in the museum’s basement, where visitors can view a huge number of fossils behind glass windows and scientists at work in their processing lab! The new Paleo Center is a state-of-the-art facility that provides adequate room for the museum’s extensive fossil collection and frees up space in the museum for other collections and exhibits.

Visitors this morning could enter The NAT for free as the museum celebrated its 150 year anniversary with a “block party” in Balboa Park. (I’ll be posting a blog about the big event shortly!)

I walked down stairs to the Natural History Museum’s basement not knowing what to expect, and look what I discovered!

In addition to the processing lab and fossil storage space, museum volunteers and scientists had assembled several puzzles and displays for both young and old.

The Paleo Center is still being worked on and is scheduled to fully open in Spring 2025. Visitors were asked for suggestions for the center’s name. I suggested The Paleo Vault!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Extinct mammoth unearthed near Petco Park.

The skull of an extinct Columbian mammoth that was unearthed near Petco Park is presently on display at the San Diego Natural History Museum!

The approximately 500,000 year old fossil, which includes two large molars, was found in 2009 about two blocks from the East Village baseball home of the San Diego Padres. The rare discovery occurred 25 feet below street level, during the construction of Thomas Jefferson School of Law.

Here’s an article about the dig and the rare find.

Visitors to the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park can view the remnants of this Mammuthus columbi on Level 3 near the building’s north stairs. The upside-down skull is massive! These extinct mammals were even larger than woolly mammoths!

Would you like to see early San Diego artifacts found by archaeologists during the grading of Petco Park? If so, click here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!