Palaeontologists from Bulgaria and Macedonia are excavating the fossilised remains of a prehistoric elephant-like creature believed to pre-date the mammoth, after its bones were discovered accidentally by a man working in a field.
Scientists at the Natural Science Museum of Macedonia and the Natural History Museum of Sofia, Bulgaria said they began excavating the skeleton in Dolni Disan in central Macedonia last month.
They estimated the animal, known as a Mastodon, would have weighed about 10 tons and have been about 50 years old at the time of its death, roughly 8 million years ago during the Miocene epoch.
Biljana Garevska of the Natural Science Museum in Skopje said the fossil was of one of the elephant’s ancestors which roamed the region at a time when it was covered by African-like savannah.
The fossils were discovered on April 24 but the Ministry of Culture of Macedonia released new photos today.
The Latin name is ‘Choerolophodon’ and it lived both in Europe and Asia during the Miocene epoch that lasted until around 5 million years ago.
