Paleontologists have uncovered ancient fossils — that could be as ancient as 7 million years — belonging to a leatherback turtle at a San Juan Capistrano construction site.
Experts believe the fossils are between 3 million and 7 million years old. They say that the creature still exists today due to its ability to regulate its own body temperature.
"It spends a lot of its time at the surface but it goes into the really very deep water into the darkness of the ocean to hunt and that water is freezing," paleontologist Lloyd Sample told NBC4.
Scientists now want to know how the leatherback has evolved over time.
However, turtle fossils aren't the only thing that has been unearthed at the La Pata Road construction site. Since construction began in April 2014, seals, shark teeth and even a walrus have been discovered.
A curator from the Cooper Center research facility in Orange County will curate the collection.
The site is a mere 500 feet above sea level today. But in the leatherback's day it was likely thousands of feet underwater, scientists said.
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Whenever a bone is found, tractors are told to work around the area.
"There's a lot of grading going on with this project so we are able to make adjustments as we go," Nardy Khan of Orange County Public Works said.
The construction project is scheduled for completion in 2016. But, in the meantime, there's no telling what else might be unearthed there.
