Chilean Scientists Discover 12,000-Year-Old Elephant Fossils

Chilean scientists recently uncovered several remains of elephant predecessors dating back 12,000 years near Lake Tagua Tagua, a glacial finger lake in southern Chile.

Gom-pho-theres, an extinct relative of the modern elephant, roamed southern Chile thousands of years ago and might have been the target of group hunts by inhabitants of the region, Chilean scientists hypothesized after a recent discovery.

The large creatures weighed up to four tonnes and could reach three metres (9.8 feet), leading scientists to believe that they were the target of group hunts from inhabitants in the region.

Scientists say the discovery will also allow them to study the wider human impact on the region and how a changing climate affected animals in the area during that time.