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Ten days ago, Jason Klein of Cohoes and Zachary Irwin of Burnt Hills stumbled upon rare fossils of a harbor seal that date back about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago while digging off the shore of Lake Champlain. The SUNY Plattsburgh students were collecting mud samples on the old Plattsburgh Air Force base as part of their geology class when a student's shovel struck a bone.

The discovery has taken everyone by surprise, including a paleontologist at the New York State Museum.

"In general, students don't come across bones too often in classes. Just finding a fossil is unique of itself. Normally with this class, he digs about 20 yards to the left and this year, they decided that because it was overgrown with plants that we should dig 20 yards to the right. And because of that decision, he found the bones," said Dr. Robert Feranec, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Initially, the students found part of the seal's leg and later, parts of the jaw and spine were also found.