Prehistoric fossils, tools, bones found in underwater cave

In Dominican Republic, archaeologists announced Tuesday the discovery of bones and fossils of several Caribbean sloths and a primate skull, which is believe to have come from an extinct monkey.

The bones are found side by side with stone equipments, possibly used and created by prehistoric men as hunting and cooking tools. According to the researchers led by Charles Beeker, director of Academic Diving and Underwater Science Programs at Indiana University, the cave could hold clues to the day-to-day life of the Caribbean's earliest inhabitants. The tools are made up of basalt and limestone and according to estimates were probably created some time between 6,500 and 4,000 years ago while the primate skull and animal bones range in age from 10,000 to 4,000 years old. The primate skull is believed to have belonged to a howler monkey -- a small-sized extinct monkey. They also discovered sloth bones including claws, jawbones and other skeletal remains of the extinct creature.