'MOORPARK MAMMOTH' FOUND DURING CONSTRUCTION.

Byline: Angie Valencia-Martinez Staff Writer

An almost intact mammoth fossil estimated to be up to a million years old - possibly older - was found on a construction site where hundreds of homes are being built, officials said Thursday.

Construction workers unearthed the remains of what is believed to be one of two species of mammoth at the Meridian Hills development site last week. The project paleontologist for William Lyon Homes Inc. noticed the bones during routine grading on a 350-acre site north of Moorpark.

``It was absolutely amazing to think that you're standing right next to a creature that had roamed that same area hundreds of thousands of years ago,'' said City Councilman Keith Millhouse. ``It's a very humbling experience. You hear about these finds and discoveries, but you don't expect them in your own back yard.''

A group of paleontologists will be on-site for the remainder of the week unearthing and preserving the rest of the bones. The pieces will most likely be taken to the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.

However, because the fossil is legally the property of Moorpark, the City Council is expected to make the final decision of where to display it.

Some pieces of the mammoth, which stood 12 feet tall at the shoulders, with 8-foot-long tusks, have already been moved, officials said.

The skeleton is up to 75 percent complete and is probably from the Pleistocene Epoch, said Assistant City Manager Hugh Riley.

``It may be one of the oldest fossil remains they have found in California,'' he said. ``It predates the mammoth in the La Brea Tar Pits.''

The city of Moorpark last year approved the Paleontological Resources Salvage Plan, which gives the developer directions on how to handle such discoveries.

Several city leaders toured the area Thursday afternoon to see the ``Moorpark mammoth'' for themselves.

``The paleontologist said the mammoth was probably a male because he was pretty stupid,'' said Mayor Pro Tem Clint Harper jokingly. ``He may have been entrapped in mud and died. Females won't let that happen. They're too intelligent.''

Paleontologist E. Bruce Lander, one of the main paleontologists coordinating the recovery efforts, said the jaw of an imperial mammoth was found in Simi Valley in the early 1900s.

He said the bones found in Moorpark could be from an imperial mammoth or an older species.

``This is exciting - just the anticipation of finding out what it might be. If it is the older one, it is extremely rare for the United States.''

Eric Leach contributed to this report.

Angie Valencia-Martinez, [phone]

angie.valencia(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Paleontologist Mark Roeder, second from right, and field technician Dave Alexander, right, look over casts containing pieces of the mammoth fossil at the site of the discovery.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(2) An 8-foot-long tusk once belonging to the mammoth was found at the home construction site near Moorpark.

Julie Brodie/Special to the Daily News