Oil Workers Discover Saber-Toothed Fossils
Venezuelan Tar Pit A Treasure Trove For Paleontologists Who Say It's The Most Significant Discovery In Decades
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Photo
In this undated photo, a fossil of a type of saber-toothed cat is seen. An ancient tar pit has yielded a rich trove of fossils, including a type of saber-toothed cat that paleontologists never found in South America before, and scientists say it holds the promise of many discoveries to come. (AP PHOTO)
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The fossils are 1.8 million years old and include skulls and jawbones of six scimitar-toothed cats - a variety of saber-toothed cat with shorter, narrower canine teeth than other species.
Researchers led by Venezuelan paleontologist Ascanio Rincon announced the discovery this month, saying in addition to proving the cat once lived here, the find also should offer a rare window into the environment shortly after North and South America became connected following an age of separation.
"The deposit could be one of the most important in South America in the last 60 years," Rincon told The Associated Press.
Other experts agree.
"The find is one of the most spectacular and scientifically interesting discoveries of the last decade," said University of Kansas professor Larry D. Martin, an expert on saber-toothed cats who was not involved in the find. "The genus hadn't been known from South America before."
The tar pits are larger than two football fields and near the surface of the soil in the eastern state of Monagas, an oil-rich area.
The state oil company set aside the site for research in 2006 and contacted Rincon at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Studies. After months of digging, he and his team found the prized fossils in April 2007.
But for the past year, Venezuela's Cultural Heritage Institute has inexplicably barred researchers from the site, which Rincon says has left it exposed to sun and rain, and potentially damaged the fossils.
The Cultural Heritage Institute revoked Rincon's permit last year, and has yet to publicly explain why. Rincon said his institution is negotiating with the agency so that researchers may return.
Rincon first spoke of the discovery at a symposium on scimitar-toothed cats in Pocatello, Idaho, in May.
Rincon and other researchers say the find suggests scimitar-toothed cats - of the genus Homotherium - crossed from North America to South America shortly after the continents grew together and became linked in modern-day Panama following a 65-million-year separation, a "moment of great exchange" between the continents.
Another expert, Argentine paleontologist Francisco Prevosti, called the Venezuelan discovery of "utmost importance for South American paleontology."
Prevosti and other experts say the now-extinct scimitar-toothed cat was previously confirmed to have inhabited Africa, Europe, Asia and North America - but not South America.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



I guess Hugo/pals haven''t found a way to plunder it yet.
Maybe it is the fact that for a few hundred, or a few thousand dollars for a license, Rincon will dig up fossils which it then would sell for millions, and Venezuela wants a fairer share of the money.
I wouldn''t blame them.
I guess after a supposed 1.8 million years the sun wind and rain is much more damaging now.
Do you think museums get their exhibits for free?
"The mastodon skull, the largest ever found, was sold for $191,200 last week at an auction in Dallas. Of that money, Taylor will get to keep about $128,000 - almost enough to pay the $136,000 he is required to pay in damages stemming from a disagreement with a former colleague over discovery rights to an Allosaurus skeleton."
Just an example...
Then you must be just loving this Presidential election!
----incredibly ignorant. 1.8 million years old. Ignorant.
Posted by DVSDen at 05:52 PM : Aug 21, 2008
Yeah!!! How dare people utilize their freedom of speech and freedom of expression!!! How dare they utilize their Constitutional Rights!
----incredibly ignorant. 1.8 million years old. Ignorant.
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Posted by BeBoldin09 at 07:03 PM : Aug 21, 2008
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Huh?? I don''t get it. What is ignorant?
We still have those? I thought our current administration got rid of them.
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Posted by matvei1107 at 07:26 PM : Aug 21, 2008
So you''re one of those dummies who can''t comment on a forum without bashing Bush, no matter what the article is about huh?
Get a doggon life would ya?
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by deacon20081
August 22, 2008 2:24 AM PDT
- So you''''re one of those dummies who can''''t comment on a forum without bashing Bush, no matter what the article is about huh?
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Reply to this comment
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See all 22 CommentsGet a doggon life would ya?
Posted by BeBoldin09
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Geore would not know what a fossil is. " I jumped ina fossil once in boot camp" he would say. Got out when the sargent said it was not a potty break..hehehe