5 Million-Year-Old Whale Found in Landfill

405522 02: Paleotologist David Alexander excavates the bones of a five- to seven-million-year-old baleen whale that he discovered in Prima Deshecha Landfill May 17, 2002 in San Juan Capistrano, CA. The 19 1/2 foot-long fossil skeleton includes the four-foot-long skull (L), spine, and at least one flipper. The whale died in the late Miocene era, sank to the ancient ocean bottom at a possible depth of 3000 feet, and was covered with mud. The mud became siltstone and the area uplifted to the current elevation of 404 feet above sea level. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)