Fossil

Fossil. Whale Exhibit. The main exhibit displays a fossil right whale skull in profile. It was recovered from the marine siltstone member of the Capistrano Formation (3.5 to 5 million years old) in the 1970's right here in Mission Viejo. It is a fossil skull from the family Balaenidea (Bowhead Whales and Right Whales)., The vertebral column on exhibit behind the whale skull although not associated with the skull, was also discovered in the city of Mission Viejo., This fossil, which unearthed by the Mission Viejo Company durning grading operations in the souther part of Mission Viejo in 1976, is a partial skull of a Baleen Whale. A Baleen Whale is a member of the Bowhead Whale Family., When alive, this particular whale would have been 58 feet long and weighed about 50 tons or the wight of 575 men. This skull would have measured nine feet across and about 14.5 feet long., The fossil is owned by the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum and is on permanent loan to the City of Mission Viejo. , It is the only fossil skull of this to be on scientific display in California.