The Best Part of L.A.’s Subway Expansion May Be the Fossil Discoveries

The Los Angeles subway may not be your first thought when it comes to thriving archeological sites, but prepare to be surprised.

As the Los Angeles metro is expanded, workers are constantly discovering fossils. The entire city is located on a series of tar pits—natural tar that’s seeped up from the ground for thousands of years—making it the perfect environment for ancient finds.

Most recently, a set of tusks and a giant skull belonging to an ancient elephant were discovered along the construction site that will soon be the extension of the Purple Line, near the La Brea Tar Pit.

Last month, the Los Angeles Times reported another find—a shattered tusk and a mastodon tooth—in the same area.

There’s no news on exactly how old or what specific species of elephant was found this week, but scientists have shared with The Times that it at least dates back to the Ice Age.