Paleontologists and archaeologists have uncovered thousands of fossils in the Diamond and Domenigoni valleys southwest of Hemet that will add immensely to the store of public knowledge about the region.

During excavation, bones and skeletons were found from extinct mastodons, mammoth, camel, sloth, dire wolf and long-horned bison.

Many experts say the paleontogical finds of mammoth, mastodon and other Pleistocene Epoch species may well rival those at the famous La Brea Tar Pits. Unofficially, the area is being referred to as the Valley of the Mastodons.