Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 21, 2003
China Finds Buffalo Fossil Dating Back 20,000 Years
A relatively complete skull fossil found last June in Qiqihar city in China's northeast Heilongjiang Province has been identified as that of a buffalo dating back 20,000 years, according to a local archeologist Friday.
A relatively complete skull fossil found last June in Qiqihar city in China's northeast Heilongjiang Province has been identified as that of a buffalo dating back 20,000 years, according to a local archeologist Friday.
Xin Jian, researcher of the city's cultural relics bureau, said he started studying the fossil recently and found that the northeast buffalo lived during the same era as the woolly mammoth.
With two horns attached to its 30-kilogram skull and absence of jaws, the age of the animal could not be calculated with precision,said Xin.
But the researcher said the buffalo was strong and weighed between 1,000 to 1,500 kilograms.
The buffalo lived between 20,000 and 30,000 years ago in the province and became extinct 10,000 years ago.
Similar fossils have been found in the region previously. Experts said that they were valuable for the research of the geology and mineral resources distribution of the era.