BY RACHEL LIVINAL
CV Journalism Collaborative
In the middle of California’s vast San Joaquin Valley, an overpass along Highway 99 commemorates massive beasts that roamed the land hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Silhouettes of Columbian Mammoths, which existed up and down North America during the Pleistocene era, were installed by the California Department of Transportation late last year.
The figures represent a piece of the region’s Ice Age past. Researchers say Columbian Mammoths preferred open areas and fed on grass and plants. They may have also overlapped with the first humans to inhabit the Americas.
The black silhouettes of the mammoths were placed just southeast of Merced because more than 2,000 prehistoric fossils were discovered in the area 12 years ago during a Highway 99 construction project.
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Officials from Caltrans and UC Merced on Monday officially held a ribbon cutting for the art installation. It was also to celebrate that the fossils will be on public display at the university’s Kolligian Library.
Lead Paleontologist Courtney Richards for Baragas Consulting was among a team that uncovered the bones. They found remnants of the Columbian Mammoth, Giant Ground Sloth and Western Camel, among other animals.
Upon discovering the fossils over a decade ago, they were eventually turned over to UC Merced campus.
Richards said the team didn’t expect to stumble upon such a large discovery.
“I had found fossils before but this was the first time I’d been involved with such an extensive bone bed,” Richards said.
Mammoths can also teach
The silhouettes are meant to teach – not just look pretty. UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sanchez Munoz said it displays a history “that has shaped our community long before humans’ steps were present.”
The Highway 99 overpass art projects are near small farm towns like Le Grand and Plainsburg. They serve as a direct reminder of the animals that used to exist in the region.
It’s an educational lesson for those passing through the Merced region. “The first time I drove (Highway) 99, I saw these and, I’m telling you, they put a smile on my face,” said Grace Magsayo, Caltrans District 10 director.
“I found that as I was driving away from the overpass, I was looking at my rearview mirror rather than the windshield. So I hope you all have a similar experience but safely. Hopefully it has that impact on people that drive through this region.”
The Kolligian Library is open to anyone from the public who wants to view the bones up close.
The fossils being displayed at UC Merced – and those found along the Le Grand and Plainsburg area – are not the first to be discovered in the area.
Michael George leads the Fossil Discovery Center in Madera County. The center displays fossils that were found in a landfill in Fairmead, a small unincorporated community near Chowchilla.
The site is considered one of the “largest middle-Pleistocene fossil excavations in the country” according to the center’s website.
George said he was excited about the Merced County discovery because more fossils add to the already abundant history of the Valley. He hopes it also leads to increased enthusiasm in kids and adults who visit the museum.
“We want people to understand that it’s not just farmland,” George said of the San Joaquin Valley. “There actually is a great history. Not just of Native Americans but of prehistoric life.”
