Chinese archeologists have unearthed a pair of ivory fossils at least 450,000 years old in north China's Shanxi Province.

The fossilized tusks are nearly three meters long and 23 to 25 centimeters in diameter in the thickest part, said Zhang Mingguang, director of the cultural heritage bureau in the city of Huozhou. "We can tell from the size of the tusks that the elephant itself weighed around 40 tons," he said.

Zhang said the fossils were found on March 27 by local farmers who were digging sand at a local river way, and were excavated by the cultural heritage administration toward the end of May.

He said these are the oldest ivory fossils so far spotted in Shanxi Province and would provide valuable evidence to researchers on the habitat and features of ancient vertebrate animals.

Ancient ivory fossils were previously discovered in north China's Tianjin municipality and Hebei Province, and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the northwest.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2005)