A view shows a part of an ancient flamingo fossil egg between 8,000 and 12,000 years old was uncovered at a busy construction at the new Felipe Angeles airport, in Zumpango, in the State of Mexico, Mexico, in this photo released and distributed on August 3, 2023 by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH)/Handout via... Read moreMEXICO CITY, Aug 3 (Reuters) - An ancient flamingo fossil egg between 8,000 and 12,000 years old was uncovered at a busy construction site for a new airport in Mexico, officials from the Latin American country said.
The remarkably preserved egg from the Pleistocene period is incredibly rare.
The Pleistocene geological epoch, the most recent Ice Age, began 2.6 million years ago and ended around 11,700 years ago.
The flamingo egg fossil was found at a depth of 31 centimeters (1 foot) amid clay and shale during construction at the new Felipe Angeles airport in the State of Mexico, INAH said.
The fossil egg implies that the area was the site of a shallow lake between 8,000 and 33,000 years ago, according to Mexican scientists, and that flamingos once thrived in central Mexico.
Persons:
Felipe, INAH, Cassandra Garrison, Jonathan Oatis
Organizations:
Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology, Read, MEXICO CITY, Thomson
Locations:
Zumpango, State of Mexico, Mexico, MEXICO, Americas, South America, Caribbean, Yucatan, United States