These Two German Boys Discovered Rare Prehistoric Elephant Bones While Out With Their Dad
The fossil was confirmed to be from the extinct animal known as ‘deinotherium’, which is believed to be the largest land mammal ever to have inhabited Germany.
Two German boys have discovered bones belonging to prehistoric elephants in Munich, Germany.
9-year-old Constantin and 10-year-old Alexander Kapustin saw a bone protruding frmo the ground when they were on the way to fossil hunt at a gravel pit with their father, a museum curator, near the district of Erding.
“Constantin and I at first thought it was wood. But dad said, ‘No, it's a bone’,” Alexander told Reuters. “Unfortunately, when we uncovered it, a really big chunk fell on it and dad was afraid that the bone had broken. But luckily it wasn't broken after all.”
”It was exciting because you never know what will come of it,” Constantin said.
The fossil was confirmed to be from the extinct animal known as ‘deinotherium’, which is believed to be the largest land mammal ever to have inhabited Germany.
Scientists estimate that it lived about 10 million years ago in the area that is now just outside the city of Munich.
120 bones belonging to two elephants have since been excavated in the area and unveiled in April 2024.
”We gave them names: ‘Big Alex’ is the largest of these young animals and ‘Little Consti’ is the smaller one,” the boys’ father, Peter Kapustin, told Reuters.
The bones are now on display at Taufkirchen’s prehistoric museum, which is run by Kapustin.
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