The remains of an enormous mastodon belonging to the Quaternary period were dug out in Tijuana more than 5 decades ago. This prehistoric discovery was one of the most important scientific discoveries in Baja California.

In 1968 constructor Alberto Martínez found a series of fossils with an excavating machine while creating a road to connect a neighborhood with San Antonio de los Buenos Beach.

Among the bones, there were some belonging to a 3-meter tall, 6-meter wide mastodon, as well as some belonging to horses, tapirs, and other beasts of that era.

Now this relevant discovery will be showcased soon in an exhibition at Museo de Historia in Tijuana, who are preparing the exhibition of this skeleton.

For many years, this fossil was safeguarded at Facultad de Ciencias Marinas (Marina Science Faculty) at UABC Ensenada, which is why the Municipal Institute of Arts and Culture (IMAC) organized its return to Tijuana to accommodate it properly. Back then, then Municipal President Francisco López Gutiérrez entrusted teacher Rubén Vizcaíno Valencia to recover the fossils, something that he carried out in coordination with UABC.

A little bit later, on August 21, 1968, the Fund for the Promotion of Scientific Research was established which was presided by Tijuana native doctor José M. Balcazar, president of Club Rotario in Tijuana, as well as professor Rubén Vizcaíno, director of Civic and Cultural Action of the municipality.

Contributing to this discovery, were oceanographers Katsuo Nishikawa, José Ramón Luna, Luis Gustavo Álvarez, Gilberto Flores, Rafael Hernández, Mario Reyes and engineer Gabriel Ferrer del Villar. The mastodon in Tijuana lived 30,000 to 40,000 years ago and weighted approximately 7 tons.