When you head to Sea-Tac you’re probably thinking about checking in, if your flight will be delayed and how good it will feel to finally be off the ground. The last thing you’re probably thinking about is what lays below the tarmac. How would you feel if we told you there’s a 12,000-year-old sloth?
Well, not anymore… According to David B. Williams at History Link, the Megalonyx jeffersonii was discovered on February 14th, 1961, by a construction crew digging a deep hole for a lighting tower at the airport. Just imagine getting home to your SO on Valentine’s Day and telling them you found a massive fossil.
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The discovery was a bit alarming at first and construction workers were unsure of what they had unearthed. That’s why paleontologists from the Burke Museum were called in to investigate. In the end, they discovered about 60% of the body of a giant sloth that lived around 12,600 years ago and by the way, it was the size of a Mini Cooper.
What makes this discovery even cooler other than its location is the fact that to this day, it is the first and only fossil of these sloths discovered in the state. Plus you can actually visit the fossil at Seattle’s Burke Museum. So it looks like a museum day might be in order for you.
With that enjoy and we’ll try not to think about what else lays below the airport.
