Prehistoric fossils found in Java

Fossils of prehistoric elephants and plants have been found in Blora, central Java by a team from the Bandung Geology Museum.

photo credit: wonker

Fossils of prehistoric elephant, leaf found in Blora
Jakarta Post, 23 April 2009

A fossil team from the Bandung Geological Museum and the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s Center for Geological Surveys has found the complete fossils of a prehistoric elephant and a prehistoric leaf in Blora, Central Java, a local official said Wednesday.

Blora Tourism and Culture Agency cultural division head Suntoyo said the findings were made in February at a former sand quarry in Sunggun village, Medalem subdistrict, Kradenan district.

“It’s some 2 kilometers from the site where the fossil of a prehistoric elephant tusk was found in early January,” he said.

The elephant fossil, of the species Elephas hysundrindicus, was found buried in 4 meters of dirt. It measured an estimated 2.5 meters tall, with back leg bones of 1.7 meters long.