By Carlos Valdez

LIMA (Reuters) – The fossilized remains of three mastodons from the Ice Age have been uncovered in the Peruvian Andes, raising questions as to how the behemoths arrived in the area.

Excavations starting in 2019 uncovered the behemoths, believed to be between 11,000 and 12,000 years old, in the valley of the town of Chambara, about 300 km (186 miles) east of Lima.

One of the specimens is nearly complete, and could be the most preserved mastodon in all of Peru, said paleontologist Ivan Meza.

“If the skull is found – and everything indicates that the tusks are there – that would have scientific importance at a national and global scale,” Meza said.

Mastodons were similar to the also-extinct mammoth, but had flatter heads and straighter tusks.

Scientists now hope to find more fossils in the area, which could shed light on how and when the mastodons arrived.

“We’re talking about a small area of less than one hectare,” Meza said. “To date we’ve discovered three specimens, with the possibility of there being more, and from other types of animals.”

The mastodons likely migrated from North America down to South America in search of food and water as climate conditions changed, experts believe.

“Over time, the Andes mountain range rose and the sea water receded,” said researcher Oscar Diaz. “This area dried up and left lagoons across the Mantaro Valley,” he added, which would have provided a source of water. 

Peru is a rich source of prehistoric remains. In April, a team of paleontologists unveiled the fossilized skull of a river dolphin, the largest found to date, which had swam through the Peruvian Amazon some 16 million years ago.