Fossils Uncovered by Toll Road on Display

A collection of Orange County fossils will go on public display Saturday, offering a glimpse of some of the thousands uncovered during the building of the San Joaquin Hills toll road.

“A Legacy in Stone” highlights the replica of a jaw from a now-extinct shark called a megalogon, including 6-inch teeth dug up during construction.

Visitors can also see an opossum tooth that can fit on the head of a pin, and film footage of the excavation of an 8-million-year-old baleen whale.

The exhibit is a joint effort of the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which built the toll road, and the county. Supporters hail it as part of an effort to begin publicly displaying the wealth of fossils found during local development.

Thousands of those fossils are stored in a county warehouse.

County Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who attended a Thursday press briefing about the exhibit, said he wants the public as well as scientists to be able to see the stored fossils.

“I want to make sure the universities in Orange County have these available to them,” said Spitzer, adding that he hopes the exhibit will help re-energize the board “to bring this back up as a major public policy issue in Orange County.”

The exhibit runs through Sept. 25 at the Old Courthouse Museum, 211 W. Santa Ana Blvd. It will be open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on two upcoming Saturdays--this Saturday and May 9, Family Day.

Information: (714) 834-3703.