La Brea Tar Pits

LAKE PIT

A former quarry from the 1800s, asphalt and methane still bubble up from underground vents.  Around it are life-sized statues of a mammoth family and a lone American mastodon.

Mastodon 

Methane bubbles...

More bubbles...

ANTIQUE BISON

The Antique Bison is the most common plant-eater found at Rancho La Brea.  At least 159 specimens have been retrieved.

Look at all the individual bones in the bison's tail.

Scott is trying to pull a paddle out of asphalt that simulates a stuck leg or foot.  One of them I couldn't budge!  No wonder mastodons got trapped and couldn't get out before predators attacked!

HARLAN'S GROUND SLOTH

This is a medium-sized ground sloth that's 6 feet tall and weighs 1500 pounds.  They are related to modern day armadillos and tree sloths.

I AM touching!

AMERICAN MASTODON FAMILY

The female and six year old youngster were trapped together in the asphalt.

Look at the teeth on this mastodon!  Wow!

EXTINCT CAMEL

CALIFORNIA SABER-TOOTH CAT

The California Saber-tooth Cat was a powerful and efficient hunting machine.  It appears they attacked young mammoths and mastodons using their teeth to stab the soft underbelly of their prey.

COLUMBIAN MAMMOTH

The Columbia Mammoth was the most common mammoth in North America during the Ice Age.  This specimen is of average size, weighing 15,000 pounds and 12 feet tall.

Teeth

Tusks

Toes

MERRIAM'S GIANT CONDOR

This scavenger has a 12-foot wingspan.

DIRE WOLF SKULLS

Rancho La Brea is widely known for its incredibly rich fossil deposits.  This display of 404 dire wolf skulls is only a portion of the 1600 wolves whose remains have been found here.  It is thought that the Dire Wof attempted to feed on animals trapped in the asphalt and became trapped themselves.

FOSSIL LABORATORY

This woman is sorting micro fossils.

Looking at micro fossils under a microscope to determine if they are plant or animal.

Cleaning a bison neck bone (vertebra).

Tray upon tray of catalogued specimens.

SHORT-FACED BEAR

The Short-faced bear was larger than any present day North America bear; a foot taller and twice the weight of a grizzly.

OBSERVATION PIT

This was the first museum built in the park.

The jumble of bones is staged but an accurate depiction of what paleontologists uncover here at La Brea Tar Pits.

Our tour guide to the tar pits.

PIT 13

Scientists started digging here in 1914.  Many of the fossils on display in the museum are from this pit.

PROJECT 23

The 23 crates and boxes contain fossils found when LACMA broke ground for a new parking lot!  Excavators work here seven days a week.

Sorting fossils; fossils are sorted and put into the black buckets before moving to the lab inside.

Entering data into the computer.

PLEISTOCENE GARDEN

These are the plants found in Los Angeles during the last Ice Age!  Wow!