It looks like the rare fossil found at the Chadwick School in PalosVerdes has become international news! Local news crews such as ABC7, KTLA5, Fox11, and NBCLA showed up early Wednesday morning to witness the excavation of a 12 to 15 million year old whale skull found on the school's property and they created a bit of a media frenzy. The next day the story was national and international news, with publications as diverse as the International Business Times and the U.K. Daily Mail reporting on the event.
Paleontologist Howell Thomas discovered the fossil in October of 2012 after a teacher at the school contacted him to see if any of the "stones" (actually known as Middle Miocene Era Altamira Shale) that had been lying around the property since the school was built 80 years ago had any special significance. Within seconds of looking at the fossil, he identified the rear of the skull, the blow holes and the location of the snout as that of an ancient Sperm Whale. It is not known if, because of the smaller size of the skull, this is a juvenile whale fossil or a new species but the fossil is seen as further proof that Palos Verdes was at the bottom of the ocean before shifting tectonic plates created its rolling landscape.
If the fossil is indeed a newly identified species, it will likely be named after Chadwick School. They have donated the finding to the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles which, in turn, will create for the school a detailed model of the fossil for display. Restoring the skull could take up to a year and will be a painstaking process. In the meantime, Thomas and other paleontologists and archaeologists will be examining other fossils in the area...so who knows what amazing discoveries await? I can just imagine how exciting it is for these kids to be a part of history like this and I think it is so cool that all South Bay kids (and adults) have many more interesting historical discoveries to look forward to.
Paleontologist Howell Thomas discovered the fossil in October of 2012 after a teacher at the school contacted him to see if any of the "stones" (actually known as Middle Miocene Era Altamira Shale) that had been lying around the property since the school was built 80 years ago had any special significance. Within seconds of looking at the fossil, he identified the rear of the skull, the blow holes and the location of the snout as that of an ancient Sperm Whale. It is not known if, because of the smaller size of the skull, this is a juvenile whale fossil or a new species but the fossil is seen as further proof that Palos Verdes was at the bottom of the ocean before shifting tectonic plates created its rolling landscape.
If the fossil is indeed a newly identified species, it will likely be named after Chadwick School. They have donated the finding to the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles which, in turn, will create for the school a detailed model of the fossil for display. Restoring the skull could take up to a year and will be a painstaking process. In the meantime, Thomas and other paleontologists and archaeologists will be examining other fossils in the area...so who knows what amazing discoveries await? I can just imagine how exciting it is for these kids to be a part of history like this and I think it is so cool that all South Bay kids (and adults) have many more interesting historical discoveries to look forward to.
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