Picture of hands in blue medical gloves holding animal skull.

See the fabulous fossils unearthed in a garbage dump

As a landfill expands in Spain, paleontologists are uncovering many ancient species, including some that were the precursors to apes—and us.

The skull of a false saber-toothed cat is cradled by head conservator Xènia Aymerich of the Catalan Institute of Paleontology Miquel Crusafont (ICP). It’s one of more than 70,000 fossils found at the Abocador de Can Mata, a landfill near Barcelona that’s a paleontologists’ paradise.
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