Bones of prehistoric creatures found in the cave of Crimea

SEVASTOPOL, Crimea (Reuters) – Scientists in Crimea are looking at a mass of preserved animal bones dating back half a million years after workers uncovered a sprawling underground cave during the construction of a highway.

Work on the road was temporarily interrupted while scientists studied the contents of the cave, which includes rhinoceros bones, elephant-like creatures and hyenas.

Dmitry Startsev, of the Zoological Museum of the Crimean State University, described the unique site of Crimea as "unmatched in Russia".

He said that the area had been inhabited at the time by a variety of animals, including the behemoths, an elephant ancestor who had a layer of shaggy and long hairs curved tusks.

"If it is – as we believe – a den of hyenas, then it is the largest and best preserved of its kind," Startsev said.

The bones have teeth marks, suggesting that predators have brought their prey back into the cave, he added.

"We have seen an almost intact vault where these predators have feasted, and there is also hope that we will find human traces there too." But until now these are just assumptions, "he said.

The discovery was made about 10 km east of Sevastopol on a road under construction that will extend from the west of the Black Sea peninsula to Kerch at 39. is connected this year to Russia by a new bridge.

The Crimean Peninsula is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine, although it was largely integrated into Russia after the annexation of the territory by Moscow in 2014.

Gennady Samokhin , chairman of the Russian speleologists' union, said that was stopped temporarily.

"A decision was made that until we have final conclusions about the scientific value, until we find out how much the cavities under the road are large or small – all the work in this region are temporarily halted ".