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Small tar pit. The La Brea Tar Pits is an active paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; brea in Spanish) has seeped up from the ground for tens of thousands of years.
- La Brea Woman
La Brea Woman was a human whose remains were found in the La...
- Carpinteria Tar Pits
The Carpinteria Tar Pits are located in the southeastern...
- McKittrick Tar Pits
The pits are the most extensive asphalt lakes in the state....
- Saber-Toothed Cat
Machairodontinae is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran...
- American Lion
Panthera atrox, better known as the American lion, also...
- Binagadi Asphalt Lake
Skeleton of Rhinoceros binagadiensis (Pleistocene), which...
- Salt Lake Oil Field
The field is also notable as being the source, by long-term...
- Dire Wolves
The dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus / iː ˈ n ɒ s aɪ. ɒ n ˈ d aɪ r...
- La Brea Woman
- MORE THAN 3.5 MILLION FOSSILS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED. The tar pits have yielded one of the biggest collections of Ice Age fossils in the world, and collectively, the statistics are stunning.
- PALEONTOLOGISTS STILL DIG THERE 361 DAYS A YEAR. Why 361? The site is closed July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. The rest of the time, science is happening.
- THE ONLY DINOSAURS FOUND THERE ARE BIRDS. After the paleontologists at La Brea have convinced you they aren't robots, they'll be quick to clear up another misconception: They don't dig up dinosaurs.
- THE PRESERVATION OF FOSSILS IS EXCEPTIONAL. Sticky asphalt is a pain to clean off the bones, but it also keeps them in pristine condition. This means scientists can look at features as subtle as the markings on carnivore teeth.
People also ask
Why are the La Brea tar pits important?
What happened at the La Brea tar pits & Museum?
What fossils were found in the La Brea tar pits?
What are the tar pits?
At least 36 individuals. A large species of mammoth. The largest individual found at La Brea, nicknamed Zed, was unearthed in 2006 and had tusks 3.16 m (10.4 ft) long (measured along their outer curve). Zed is also the most complete mammoth found in the tar pits, preserving 80% of the bones.
Late Quaternary Asphalt Seeps and Paleontological site of La Brea Tar Pits USA Mass of Late Quaternary fossils preserved in an asphaltic deposit at Rancho La Brea exposed during 2017 excavations.
Jan 15, 2024 · The La Brea Tar Pits — home to more than 3.5 million Ice Age fossils — is one of the planet’s best-kept records of what it was like in the area we now know as Southern California over the ...
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.
Enjoying Hancock Park. Hancock Park is nestled among the museum and the Tar Pits. It's a fun community resource where boot camp participants meet and train, kids play next to super-sized Ice Age mammals, and Angelenos and tourists stroll and picnic.
