12,000-year-old remains of elephant relative found in Chile
STORY: These 12,000-year-old remains are from
an extinct relative of the modern elephant
Gomphotheres roamed southern
Chile thousands of years ago
The animals weighed almost 4.5 tons
and could reach 9.8 feet tall
Scientists hypothesize they might
have been the target of group hunts
(Carlos Tornero, Archeologist)
"The hypothesis we're working with is that it's about hunting, hunting events. We think this because the Gomphothere is a very large animal and dangerous, and it probably required several people (to hunt)."
The discovery could also allow scientists to
learn about the wider human impact on the region
(Elisa Calas, Archeologist)
"We can get a lot of information from here, for example, with regards to climate change, how it affected animals. The influence humans had on the environment which is very in line with what's happening now in terms of the environment."