A team of scientists rappelled down a cave in Wyoming and found hundreds of fossilized remains of large prehistoric mammals.
Researchers from Des Moines Univesity unearthed the huge collection of prehistoric animal fossils at the base of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming. The team presumed that the animals reached their current position when they fell in a sinkhole-like pit during their time.
Natural Trap Cave, which is a part of the Bighorn Mountains, is being managed by the Bureau of Land Management and was first discovered in 1970s. Since then, the area became a common site for various archaeological expeditions.
"We found evidence of bison, a bit of gray wolf and quite a lot of cheetah and horse," Meachen told Reuters.
The cave's damp and cool environment served as perfect conditions for preserving the fossils.
"It's like a refrigerator in there," Julie Meachen, a professor at Des Moines University, told CNN. "Some of the bones we're finding there have collagen in them. That is where you could get the ancient DNA."
Professor Alan Cooper from the University of Adelaide was also part of the expedition that started on July 29. On Thursday, the Bureau of Land Management posted a tweet showing the video of Cooper presenting their discoveries in the cave. The same video was also uploaded to YouTube.
In his video, Cooper described the site as one of the richest areas that contains preserved megafauna mammals. "Megafauna mammals" is a term used to describe gigantic animals.
The Natural Trap Cave included remains of cheetahs, along with species of animals that were extinct 20,000 years ago.
The research team will pick the best-preserved remains and pack them in cold containers. These containers will be transferred to different universities and institutions in the United States, the Australian Center of Ancient DNA, and the University of Adelaide, where researchers will perform tests and further analysis on the fossils.
