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Over the last 50,000 years, Ice Age animals, plants, and insects were trapped in sticky asphalt, which preserved them for us to find today. More than 100 excavations have been made at the Tar Pits since the early 1900s, and most of the fossils discovered here are housed in the museum at La Brea Tar Pits, at the center of the Tar Pits!
The Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits is part of a trio of institutions that also includes the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the William S. Hart Park and Museum. The Page Museum is located in Hancock Park, which is named for George Allan Hancock, the man who donated the 23 acres the park resides on.
- Jessika Toothman
- What has been found in the La Brea Tar Pits?As of the last count of the La Brea collection at the National History Museum of Los Angeles County, more than 3.5 million specimens have been foun...
- How old are the La Brea Tar Pits?Serious scientific excavations didn't commence at the La Brea Tar Pits until the beginning of the 20th century. However, the history of the tar pit...
- How did the La Brea Tar Pits form?The Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley says "[t]ar pits form when crude oil seeps to the surface through fissures in...
- How old are the fossils in the La Brea Tar Pits?The fossils found in the La Brea Tar Pits are between 11,000 and 50,000 years old.
- What animals have been found in the La Brea Tar Pits?The animal fossils that have been found in the La Brea Tar Pits include saber-toothed cats, dire wolves and mammoths, among others.
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Aug 17, 2023 · About La Brea Tar Pits The asphalt seeps at La Brea Tar Pits are the only consistently active and urban Ice Age excavation site in the world. This makes the site a unique window into active science—where fossils are discovered, prepared, researched, and displayed in one place.
Right in the heart of L.A. sits the world’s most powerful gateway to the Ice Age. The asphalt seeps at La Brea Tar Pits are the only active urban fossil dig site in the world. Plants and animals from the last 50,000 years are discovered here every day. Outside, you can watch excavators carve fossils out of the asphalt.
Apr 28, 2024 · La Brea Tar Pits, tar (Spanish brea) pits, in Hancock Park (Rancho La Brea), Los Angeles, California, U.S. The area was the site of “pitch springs” oozing crude oil that was used by local Indians for waterproofing. Gaspar de Portolá ’s expedition in 1769 explored the area, which encompasses about 20 acres (8 hectares).
For these are the La Brea tar pits, containing one of the richest, best preserved, and best studied assemblages of Pleistocene vertebrates , including at least 59 species of mammal and over 135 species of bird . The tar pit fossils bear eloquent witness to life in southern California from 40,000 to 8,000 years ago; aside from vertebrates, they ...
