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The Living Force
Source (Dutch only): Botten prehistorische dieren gevonden bij bouw sluis Terneuzen
DeepL Translator said:NOS News - Regional news - Today, 17:12
Bones of prehistoric animals found at construction of lock near Terneuzen
An inner ear of an extinct finfish - Image broadcaster Omroep Zeeland
During the construction of the Nieuwe Sluis [the New Lock] near Terneuzen, bones of a number of prehistoric animals were found. These include the remains of a mammoth, the bones of a woolly rhino and a seven million year old inner ear of an extinct whale species.
The Nieuwe Sluis near Terneuzen is being built to allow larger seagoing vessels to sail from the Wester Schelde to the port of Ghent. A large number of bones were found at the end of June. Research has now shown what types of bones they are.
Hyena
"We found parts of the pelvis of a mammoth", said curator Hester Loeff of the Royal Zeeland Society of Sciences to broadcaster Omroep Zeeland. "These reveal that the animal was 'gnawed' by a hyena after its death. You can see a dental impression in the bone, which is pretty cool".
Also a molar of a younger mammoth and two tusks have been found. The fossils are about 30,000 years old.
Finfish
The other bones consist mainly of vertebrae of extinct whale species. These are animals that lived more than seven million years ago on the site of the lock complex near Terneuzen.
Mark Bosselaers of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences is particularly enthusiastic about the ear found. "An inner ear of an extinct finfish, you don't find many of those. Just like humans, these fish had all kinds of parts in their ear. With us it's mainly cartilage, with this fish it's bone".
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)