HOME SITE FOSSIL CALLED MASTODON ANIMAL FIRST THOUGHT TO BE MAMMOTH.

Byline: Angie Valencia-Martinez Staff Writer

MOORPARK - The fossilized bones discovered last month by crews building a housing development are those of a mastodon that lived up to 1 million years ago, experts say.

Paleontologists initially theorized that the tusk and foot bones uncovered at the site of the 550-home Moorpark Highlands were those of a mammoth, but later concluded it was a mastodon, which had shorter, straighter tusks. Experts said the latest find contributed to the scientific understanding of the area.

``You get a more complete look at what was roaming around there at the Moorpark area,'' said Christopher Shaw, collections manager at the George C. Page Museum. ``As they develop more (homes), there's bound to be more things that show up.

``This is great. The more we find, the more we can interpret what it was like by them.''

The Ice Age mammoth and mastodon were both ancestors to modern-day elephants, the main difference being their teeth, said Shelley Cox, laboratory supervisor at the Page Museum.

Mammoths were grazers, so had stronger teeth to grind their food. Mastodons had cusped teeth and chomped their food, she said.

In addition, mammoths had straighter legs, while mastodons had longer, flatter heads, she added.

The latest find was recovered during grading for the future Spring Road portion of Moorpark Highlands. The city has the option of claiming ownership or donating the fossils to science.

Jim Bizzelle, with Pardee Homes, developer of the housing project, said paleontologists on site recovered 10 percent of the find, which is currently being cleaned and preserved in a lab.

The mastodon represents the newest of fossils scattered in the Moorpark and Simi Valley area and tells about life before subdivisions and highways.

Shaw said a lot of the fossils that are found in the area are from the Eocene Epoch, which dates from 55 million to 60 million years ago. They are the ancestors to deer, horses, wolves and mountain lions, for example.

In late March, a nearly complete fossilized mammoth was discovered at the site of the 250-home Meridian Hills project.

The Ice Age skeleton, which is 75 percent complete, is a rare meridionalis species. The prehistoric beast was about 46 years old when it died and was likely a female, experts say.

The creature stood 12 feet tall, weighed several tons and had 8-foot- long curved tusks. It is believed to be 800,000 to 1.4 million years old.

Officials with Pardee are not releasing much information about the newest discovery, and attempts to speak with paleontologists who worked on the site were not successful.

Still, the find caused a stir across town.

``These are the oldest residents of Moorpark,'' joked Councilman Clint Harper.

Angie Valencia-Martinez, [phone]

angie.valencia(at)dailynews.com