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TEL AVIV, ISRAEL—The Associated Press reports that an eight-foot-long tusk belonging to an extinct elephant species has been uncovered in southern Israel at an archaeological site dated to about 500,000 years ago, based upon the style of stone tools recovered. The area, which is now arid, was likely a swamp or a shallow lake at the time, explained prehistorian Avi Levy of the Israel Antiquities Authority. His colleague Omry Barzilai added that it is not clear if the Paleolithic hominins killed the elephant, or if they found the tusk and brought it to the site. To read about a cave in southern China where the teeth of hominins were found alongside the bones of an extinct elephant species, go to "An Opportunity for Early Humans in China."
