Cloudy with occasional rain showers. High 59F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Overcast with rain showers at times. Low around 45F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. High 59F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Overcast with rain showers at times. Low 44F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

It started with a petrified tree, half-buried in the mud of the Mokelumne River watershed in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The site intrigued Greg Francek, a ranger for East Bay Municipal Utility District, as he was walking the valley last summer. He inspected further, and what he discovered led to one of the most significant fossil discoveries in California history. “I looked around the area further and I found a second tree,” Francek said in an EBMUD (East Bay Municipal Utilities District) statement released last summer, documenting the discovery. “And then a third and so on. After finding dozens of trees, I realized that what I was looking at was the remains of a petrified forest.” Petrified wood comes from trees that were buried in the fine-grained sediments of deltas, floodplains, or volcanic ash beds, and turned to stone over millions of years. After three weeks of surveying the site, Francek made an even more curious discovery. “I located the first vertebrate fossils,” he said. “What I didn’t comprehend at the time was the amazing fact that I was looking at the bones of great beasts that had roamed this landscape millions of years ago.” Francek reached out to experts in paleontology and geology from across the country to come inspect the bones, and they’re still there today making historic finds. Those great beasts include mastodons (elephant-like creatures with unique teeth; the name means “nipple tooth”), gomphotheres (ancestral elephants, but with four tusks) and, incredibly, 400-pound salmon with spiked teeth, among others still to be identified. They even found camel fossils. The bones are thought to be from the Miocene era, around 10 million years ago. The site, the Mokelumne River watershed, is where some 1.4 million Bay Area residents get their drinking water. EBMUD has owned and managed 28,000 acres of watershed land there for a century. “The discovery is highly significant because of both the sheer number and diversity of specimens found. Few other fossil discoveries like this exist in California,” said Dr. Russell Shapiro of the Chico State Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences in a statement. “The bones paint a clearer picture of life 10 million years ago when animals evolved from living in forests to grassland as the landscape changed.” Mastodon remains were last found in California by the agency in 1947 during pipeline construction in Contra Costa County. But the current trove of fossils is the largest and most diverse in the state’s history. “Since this is one of the more significant paleontological finds in California, researchers still have a lot of questions like why are all these fossils in this location? How did they die? What happened and when?” researchers wrote, “The study of this site may take years.” Find more information and photos of the discovery on EBMUD’s excellent virtual presentation, a very interesting site to visit. It has some great pictures of recovery of the fossils and wonderful information about the process as well as history of the mastadons, etc. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/b12baa60ad164954aba18cfa5de409dd

Here in Sonoma County, evidence has long been documented of a pathway the ancient beasts walked and even a rock on our now coastline, Elephant Rock, part of the State Parks system. You can hike to the rock and see the happy back scratch-er in person. Here is a link to a rather dry text, it also includes studies of obsidian points and animal wallows in the adjacent area. Mammoth Rocks (ca.gov)

Strutting Tom Turkeys are all over the common wild turkey haunts. Passing a vineyard recently, a group of six males, I pulled over, two were doing their strut as three hens pecked the ground nearby. They first appear as dark spots from the roadway. They are generally not bothered by cars this time of year; they are bothered by people getting too close. It seems silly to say a turkey can hurt you, but it is true, they have sharp beaks and daggers on their feet designed to slash at any threat. Keep your distance and warn children to do the same, during the rut, they are very aggressive.

Bill Hanson is a Sonoma County native and a lifelong sportsman. He is the former president of the Sonoma County Mycological Association. Look for his column in The Community Voice each week.

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