Fossilized bones of Ice Age bison found during State Route 76 work near Pala Mesa

FALLBROOK - Highway contractors have uncovered the fossilized bones of an Ice Age bison in the Pala Mesa area of Fallbrook and will unveil the skeleton Monday, May 13 in San Diego.

Cal Trans officials said the bison was uncovered during excavations for the State Route 76 East project.

The fossil is estimated to be about 200,000 years old, and it is the first fossilized bison found in Southern California, according to experts at Cal Trans and the San Diego Natural History Museum at Balboa Park.

The bison has been moved from North County to the San Diego museum, where paleontologists are carefully cleaning sediment from it, Caltrans officials said. The state agency usually hires scientists to watch large construction sites for important geologic or anthropologic finds.

It will be unveiled at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the museum, 1788 El Prado, in the heart of Balboa Park.