Transportation

11,000-Year-Old Fossils Discovered at DFW Airport

Workers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport discovered a cache of ice-age era fossils earlier this month, airport officials announced Tuesday afternoon. A bison thigh bone and a tooth from a woolly mammoth are the first of their kind found at the airport. Officials aren't disclosing where they were discovered "in the...
By Stephen YoungNovember 14, 2018
A bison femur (top) and a woolly mammoth tooth found at DFW Airport earlier this month.

DFW Airport
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Workers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport discovered a cache of ice-age era fossils earlier this month, airport officials announced Tuesday afternoon.

A bison thigh bone and a tooth from a woolly mammoth are the first of their kind found at the airport. Officials aren’t disclosing where they were discovered “in the interest of safety for our customers and the property itself,” the airport said Tuesday on Facebook.

During the initial construction of the airport in the ’60’s, workers building one of the terminals discovered a prehistoric plesiosaur fossil. The 25-foot relic was on display at the airport for decades before being removed sometime during the 21st century. 

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The fossils discovered this month will be taken to SMU for safekeeping and research, according to the airport.

Two woolly mammoth teeth

DFW Airport


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Stephen Young has written about Dallas news for the Observer since 2014. He’s a Dallas native and a graduate of the University of North Texas.

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