La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles CA

27 Oct 98

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As our studies move on to modern life, we made a stop at the George C. Page Museum of Tar Pit Discoveries--the largest find of bones from the Ice Ages (40,000 to 10,000 years ago). Scientists discovered over a million fossils between 1906 and 1915.

An amazing 1.5 million vertebrate and 2.5 million invertebrate fossils have been uncovered in the hardened asphalt, from enormous mammoths to tiny rodents. In addition, thousands of micro-fossils of seeds, pollen, and insects have been found.

In all, 140 species of plants and more than 420 species of animals have been discovered at the tar pits.

Of all the bones found, only one human, a 25-30 year-old woman, was among them. It is thought that she may have been murdered and buried there.

Probably the most important thing this rich deposit of fossils provides is a glimpse of what the world was like for some of the first human beings in North America.

Links: (See below for resources you can buy online)

• About La Brea Tar Pits & Pleistocene epoch
• Page Museum web site - Check here for more info on the Tar Pits museum.
• Los Angeles Museum of Natural History

What is it like to be trapped in tar? Amanda says, "It was hard to get out of the tar because the tar was really hard and sticky stuff." No wonder the animals got stuck!

This Smilodon (Sabre Tooth Cat) skull shows a new tooth growing to replace one that would have fallen out if the animal had lived longer.

Harrison learned that, like all cats, the Sabre Tooth Cat had huge retractable claws. They probably used them to catch their prey.

How many teeth did a Mastodon (Wooly Mammoth) have? How big are they? E-mail Harrison for the answers.

Harrison counted 400 Dire Wolf skulls in this display. Over 1600 skeletons of these wolves have been found in the pits. Slights differences in the skulls show evolution in progress.

Resources
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Look for more great books about the La Brea Tar Pits at Amazon.com

Ape Man: The Story of Human Evolution (1994) With Walter Cronkite

In this followup to A&E's popular "Dinosaur!" host Walter Cronkite travels to Africa to discover just how humans evolved from the primates to become the dominant species on earth.