Researchers have found a fossilized skeleton of whale in Santa Cruz County. The skeleton unearthed at a construction site in Santa Cruz County could be about 4-million-year-old, according to the researchers.

Confirming the new discovery, Santa Cruz Sentinel said the whale fossil found on September 4 is about 25 feet long. The ancient fossil was discovered by a paleontologist who was assigned to monitor a construction site in Scotts Valley, according to Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Scott Armstrong, a researcher at an archaeological consulting service Paleo Solutions, said the fossil could be of a mysticete whale, an ancestor to the baleen whale. During the excavation, the researchers unearthed skull pieces, shoulder blades, a part of jaw and arm bones. According to Armstrong, there are high chances that the remains had made their way into the hills through quakes, or through the movement of tectonic plates.

“Most places where you see a hill, somewhere there's a fault line nearby pushing it up. They're relatively inactive faults. But yeah, it's from lifting thousands, maybe millions of years ago”, Armstrong added.

The remains were spotted by a paleontologist on September 4, but the process of excavation started on Thursday. The researchers used shovels, hoes, brooms and a number of other small tools to unearth the ancient fossil. After unearthing the remains, the researchers encased them in plaster. Now, the fossil will be transported to the Monrovia offices of Paleo Solutions.