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'{{short description|Paleontological research site in Los Angeles}} {{For|the tar pit in La Brea, Trinidad and Tobago|Pitch Lake}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2018}} {{Infobox protected area | name = La Brea Tar Pits | photo = USA tar bubble la brea CA.jpg | photo_caption = Methane gas bubble emerging at La Brea Tar Pits (2004) | coordinates = {{coord|34.0628|N|118.356|W|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | location = [[Hancock Park]], [[Los Angeles]], US | map = Los Angeles#California#USA | map_caption = Location in Los Angeles | url = {{official website|https://tarpits.org/}} | embedded1 = {{Designation list|embed=yes|designation1=California|designation1_number=170|designation1_offname=Hancock Park La Brea<ref name=CHL>{{cite ohp|170|Hancock Park|2012-10-07}}</ref>}} | embedded2 = {{designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = NNL | designation1_date = 1964 }} }} [[File:New tar.jpg|thumb|Small tar pit]] The '''La Brea Tar Pits''' is an active [[Paleontological site|paleontological research site]] in urban [[Los Angeles]]. [[Hancock Park]] was formed around a group of [[tar pit]]s where natural [[Bitumen|asphalt]] (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; ''brea'' in Spanish) has seeped up from the ground for tens of thousands of years. Over many centuries, the bones of trapped animals have been preserved. The [[George C. Page]] Museum is dedicated to researching the tar pits and displaying specimens from the animals that died there. La Brea Tar Pits is a registered [[National Natural Landmark]]. ==Formation== [[File:Smilodon and Canis dirus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Illustration of several species getting mired in the tar pits]] Tar pits are composed of [[Heavy crude oil|heavy oil]] fractions called [[gilsonite]], which seeps from the Earth as oil. [[Crude oil]] seeps up along the 6th Street Fault from the [[Salt Lake Oil Field]], which underlies much of the Fairfax District north of [[Hancock Park]].<ref name="Khilyuk">{{cite book |title= Gas migration: events preceding earthquakes|last= Khilyuk|first= Leonid F.|author2=Chilingar, George V. |year= 2000|publisher= Gulf Professional Publishing|isbn= 0-88415-430-0|pages= 389}}</ref> The oil reaches the surface and forms pools, becoming asphalt as the lighter fractions of the petroleum [[biodegrade]] or evaporate.<ref name="UCMP">{{Cite web |title=La Brea Tar Pits |url=https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/quaternary/labrea.html |access-date=2021-04-26 |publisher=[[University of California Museum of Paleontology]]}}</ref> The asphalt then normally hardens into stubby mounds. The pools and mounds can be seen in several areas of the park. This seepage has been happening for tens of thousands of years, during which the asphalt sometimes formed a deposit thick enough to trap animals. The deposit would become covered over with water, dust, or leaves. Animals would wander in, become trapped, and die. Predators would enter to eat the trapped animals and would also become stuck. As the bones of a dead animal sank, the asphalt would soak into them, turning them dark-brown or black in color. Lighter [[Fraction (chemistry)|fractions]] of petroleum evaporated from the asphalt, leaving a more solid substance, which then encased the bones. Dramatic fossils of large mammals have been extricated, but the asphalt also preserves [[microfossil]]s: wood and plant remnants, rodent bones, insects, mollusks, dust, seeds, leaves, and pollen grains.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Purtill |first=Corinne |date=2022-10-28 |title='A story of extinction.' La Brea Tar Pits recognized as a geological heritage site |url=https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2022-10-28/a-story-of-extinction-the-la-brea-tar-pits-recognized-as-a-geological-heritage-site |access-date=2022-10-31 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Examples of some of these are on display in the George C. Page Museum. [[Radiometric dating]] of preserved wood and bones has given an age of 38,000 years for the oldest known material from the La Brea seeps. ==History== [[Image:LaBrea-tarpits-1910.jpg|thumb|The Tar Pits in 1910. Oil derricks can be seen in the background.]] The [[Chumash people|Chumash]] and [[Tongva]] people used tar from the pits to build [[Tomol|plank boats]] by sealing planks of [[California redwood]] trunks and pieces of driftwood from the [[Santa Barbara Channel]], which they used to navigate the California coastline and [[Channel Islands (California)|Channel Islands]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chumash Tomol Crossing |work= Channel Islands National Park |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |url=https://www.nps.gov/chis/learn/historyculture/tomolcrossing.htm |access-date=2023-07-15 |language=en}}</ref> The [[Portolá expedition]], a group of Spanish explorers led by [[Gaspar de Portolá]], made the first written record of the tar pits in 1769. Father [[Juan Crespí]] wrote, <blockquote> While crossing the basin, the scouts reported having seen some geysers of tar issuing from the ground like springs; it boils up molten, and the water runs to one side and the tar to the other. The scouts reported that they had come across many of these springs and had seen large swamps of them, enough, they said, to caulk many vessels. We were not so lucky ourselves as to see these tar geysers, much though we wished it; as it was some distance out of the way we were to take, the Governor [Portolá] did not want us to go past them. We christened them ''Los Volcanes de Brea'' [the Tar Volcanoes].<ref name="LA okay">{{Cite book|url=http://www.laokay.com/halac/RanchoLaBrea.htm|title=Historic Adobes of Los Angeles County|last=Kielbasa|first=John R.|publisher=[[Dorrance Publishing Co.]]|year=1998|isbn=0-8059-4172-X|location=[[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburg]]|contribution=Rancho La Brea}}.<!-- Dorrance is a vanity press, but this book should nevertheless be considered a reliable source per the discussion at http://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=User_talk%3ADavid_Eppstein&diff=312694727&oldid=311872021 --></ref> </blockquote> Harrison Rogers, who accompanied [[Jedediah Smith]] on his 1826 expedition to California, was shown a piece of the solidified asphalt while at [[Mission San Gabriel]], and noted in his journal, "The Citizens of the Country make great use of it to pitch the roofs of their houses".<ref>Smith, J. S., & Brooks, G. R. (1977). ''The Southwest expedition of Jedediah S. Smith: His personal account of the journey to California, 1826–1827''. Glendale, Calif: A. H. Clark, p. 239. {{ISBN|0-8706-2123-8}}</ref> The La Brea Tar Pits and Hancock Park were formerly part of the [[Ranchos of California|Mexican land grant]] of [[Rancho La Brea]]. For some years, tar-covered bones were found on the property but were not initially recognized as fossils because the ranch had lost various animals—including horses, cattle, dogs, and even camels—whose bones closely resemble several of the fossil species. Initially, they mistook the bones in the pits for the remains of [[pronghorn]] or cattle that had become mired. The original Rancho La Brea land grant stipulated that the tar pits be open to the public for the use of the local [[Pueblo]].{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} There were originally more than 100 separate pits of tar (or asphaltum) but most of those have been filled in with rock or dirt since settlement, leaving about a dozen accessible from ground level.<ref>{{Cite web |title=San Pedro News Pilot 2 May 1945 — California Digital Newspaper Collection |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19450502.2.56&srpos=11&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Hancock+Park%22+history------- |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=cdnc.ucr.edu}}</ref> In 1886, the first excavation for land pitch in the village of La Brea was undertaken by ''Messrs Turnbull, Stewart & co.''.<ref>Mineral Resources of the United States.&nbsp;(1894).&nbsp;United States:&nbsp;U.S. Government Printing Office.</ref> [[File:La Brea SW01.jpg|thumb|Early excavation ({{circa|1913|1915}})]] ===Excavations=== [[File:Scientists Search Trove of Ice Age Fossils in Los Angeles.ogv|thumb|thumbtime=2:37|2011 [[Voice of America|VOA]] report about the new discoveries in the pits]] [[Union Oil]] geologist [[William Warren Orcutt|W. W. Orcutt]] is credited, in 1901, with first recognizing that fossilized prehistoric animal bones were preserved in pools of asphalt on the Hancock ranch. In commemoration of Orcutt's initial discovery, paleontologists named the [[Pleistocene coyote|La Brea coyote]] (''Canis latrans orcutti'') in his honor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=La Brea Tar Pits History |url=https://tarpits.org/la-brea-tar-pits-history |access-date=December 26, 2022 |website=www.tarpits.org}}</ref> [[John C. Merriam]] of the [[University of California, Berkeley]] led much of the original work in this area early in the 20th century.{{r|UCMP}} Contemporary excavations of the bones started in 1913–1915. In the 1940s and 1950s, public excitement was generated by the preparation of previously recovered large mammal bones.<ref name="LATIMES 1946">{{cite news |date=June 17, 1946 |title=Animal Bones 50,000 Years Old Found In Tar |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |location=Los Angeles |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/415193041.html?dids=415193041:415193041&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jun+17%2C+1946&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=ANIMAL+BONES+50%2C000+YEARS+OLD+FOUND+IN+TAR |access-date=January 27, 2010}}</ref> A subsequent study demonstrated the fossil vertebrate material was well preserved, with little evidence of bacterial degradation of bone protein.<ref>{{cite journal |author=McMenamin, M.A.S. |display-authors=etal |year=1982 |title=Amino acid geochemistry of fossil bones from the Rancho La Brea Asphalt Deposit, California |journal=Quaternary Research |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=174–83 |bibcode=1982QuRes..18..174M |doi=10.1016/0033-5894(82)90068-0 |s2cid=129195356}}</ref> They are believed to be some 10–20,000 years old, dating from the [[Last Glacial Period]].<ref name="ley196312">{{Cite magazine |last=Ley |first=Willy |date=December 1963 |title=The Names of the Constellations |url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v22n02_1963-12#page/n46/mode/1up |department=For Your Information |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction |pages=90–99}}</ref> On February 18, 2009, George C. Page Museum announced the 2006 discovery of 16 fossil deposits that had been removed from the ground during the construction of an underground parking garage for the [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]] next to the tar pits.<ref name="KCBS">{{cite news |title=Cache Of Ice Age Fossils Found Near Tar Pits |url=http://cbs2.com/local/ice.age.fossils.2.937436.html |agency=[[Associated Press]] |publisher=[[KCBS-TV]] |location=Los Angeles |date=February 18, 2009 |access-date=February 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220060922/http://cbs2.com/local/ice.age.fossils.2.937436.html |archive-date=February 20, 2009}}</ref> Among the finds are remains of a [[Machairodontinae|saber-toothed cat]], [[dire wolf|dire wolves]], bison, [[Equus occidentalis|horses]], a giant [[ground sloth]], turtles, snails, clams, millipedes, fish, gophers, and an [[American lion]].<ref name="KCBS" /><ref name="LA TIMES">{{cite news |author=Thomas H. Maugh II |title=Major cache of fossils unearthed in L.A. |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-sci-fossils18-2009feb18,0,2746763.story |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |location=Los Angeles |date=February 18, 2009 |access-date=February 18, 2009 }}</ref> Also discovered is a nearly intact mammoth skeleton, nicknamed Zed; the only pieces missing are a rear leg, a vertebra, and the top of its skull, which was sheared off by construction equipment in preparation to build the parking structure.<ref name="LA TIMES" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Workers Unearth Mammoth Discovery near La Brea Tar Pits |url=http://www.ktla.com/landing/?blockID=216756&feedID=171 |publisher=[[KTLA]] |location=Los Angeles |date=February 18, 2009 |access-date=February 18, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="LaBreaMammothUSAToday">{{cite news |title=Nearly intact mammoth found at L.A. construction site |url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2009/02/63009597/1 |work=[[USA Today]] |date=February 18, 2009 |access-date=September 1, 2010}}</ref> These fossils were packaged in boxes at the construction site and moved to a compound behind Pit 91, on Page Museum property, so that construction could continue. Twenty-three large accumulations of tar and specimens were taken to the Page Museum. These deposits are worked on under the name "Project 23". As work for the public transit [[D Line (Los Angeles Metro)|D Line]] is [[D Line Extension|extended]], museum researchers know more tar pits will be uncovered, for example near the intersection of Wilshire and Curson.<ref name="KCBS" /> In an exploratory subway dig in 2014 on the [[Miracle Mile, Los Angeles|Miracle Mile]], prehistoric objects unearthed included [[geoduck]]s, [[sand dollar]]s, and a {{convert|10|foot||adj=mid| limb}} from a pine tree, of a type now found in [[Central California]]'s woodlands.<ref>{{cite news|title=Prehistoric objects unearthed in LA subway dig|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10701936/Prehistoric-objects-unearthed-in-LA-subway-dig.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10701936/Prehistoric-objects-unearthed-in-LA-subway-dig.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|last=Malkin|first=Bonnie|date=March 7, 2014|work=[[The Telegraph (UK)]]|publisher=AP|access-date=March 18, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> ==George C. Page Museum== <!-- "George C. Page Museum" redirects to here. Use this as the heading title, or the redirect will become broken. --> [[File:Page Museum.jpg|thumb|The La Brea Tar Pits Museum in Hancock Park]] In 1913, [[George Allan Hancock]], the owner of Rancho La Brea, granted the [[Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County]] exclusive excavation rights at the Tar Pits for two years. In those two years, the museum was able to extract 750,000 specimens at 96 sites, guaranteeing that a large collection of fossils would remain consolidated and available to the community.<ref name="tarpits.org">{{Cite web|url=https://tarpits.org/la-brea-tar-pits-history|title=La Brea Tar Pits History &#124; La Brea Tar Pits|website=tarpits.org|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref> Then in 1924, Hancock donated {{convert|23| acres}} to Los Angeles County with the stipulation that the county provide for the preservation of the park and the exhibition of fossils found there.<ref name="tarpits.org"/> The George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries, part of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, was built next to the tar pits in Hancock Park on [[Wilshire Boulevard]]. Construction began in 1975, and the museum opened to the public in 1977.<ref name="About Page Museum">{{cite web |url=http://www.tarpits.org/our-story/about-the-page|access-date=January 25, 2016 |title=About the museum|author=Page Museum |work=Page Museum web site |publisher=The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Foundation}}</ref> The area is part of urban Los Angeles in the [[Miracle Mile District]]. The museum tells the story of the tar pits and presents specimens excavated from them. Visitors can walk around the park and see the tar pits. On the grounds of the park are life-sized models of prehistoric animals in or near the tar pits. Of more than 100 pits, only Pit 91 is still regularly excavated by researchers and can be seen at the Pit 91 viewing station. In addition to Pit 91, the one other ongoing excavation is called "Project 23". Paleontologists supervise and direct the work of volunteers at both sites.<ref name="Page Museum web site">{{cite web |url=http://www.tarpits.org/ |title=Page Museum—La Brea Tar Pits |access-date=December 15, 2006 |author=Page Museum |work=Page Museum web site |publisher=The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Foundation}}</ref> As a result of a design competition in 2019, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County chose [[Weiss/Manfredi]] over [[Dorte Mandrup]]&nbsp;and [[Diller Scofidio + Renfro]] to redesign the park, including by adding a pedestrian walkway framing Lake Pitt, which is {{convert|3,281|ft|m|abbr=off}} long.<ref>Shane Reiner-Roth (December 12, 2019), [https://www.archpaper.com/2019/12/weiss-manfredi-la-brea-tar-pits-site/ WEISS/MANFREDI win competition to master plan the La Brea Tar Pits]&nbsp;''[[The Architect's Newspaper]]''.</ref> ==Heritage site== In respect of it being the "richest paleontological site on Earth for terrestrial fossils of late [[Quaternary]] age," the [[International Union of Geological Sciences]] (IUGS) included the "Late Quaternary asphalt seeps and paleontological site of La Brea Tar Pits" in its assemblage of 100 geological heritage sites around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organization defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as "a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history."<ref>{{cite web |title=The First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites |url=https://iugs-geoheritage.org/videos-pdfs/iugs_first_100_book_v2.pdf |website=IUGS International Commission on Geoheritage |publisher=IUGS |access-date=13 November 2022}}</ref> ==Flora and fauna== {{Further|List of fossil species in the La Brea Tar Pits}} [[File:La Brea Tar Pits.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|La Brea Tar Pits fauna as depicted by [[Charles R. Knight]]]] Among the prehistoric [[Pleistocene]] species associated with the La Brea Tar Pits are [[Columbian mammoths]], [[dire wolf|dire wolves]], [[Arctodus|short-faced bears]], [[American lion]]s, [[ground sloth]]s (predominantly ''[[Paramylodon|Paramylodon harlani]]'', with much rarer ''[[Megalonyx|Megalonyx jeffersonii]]'' and ''[[Nothrotheriops|Nothrotheriops shastensis]]''), [[Coyote|coyotes]], [[Bison antiquus|ancient bison]], and the [[List of U.S. state fossils|state fossil]] of California, the saber-toothed cat (''[[Smilodon]] fatalis''). The park is known for producing myriad mammal fossils dating from the [[Wisconsin glaciation]]. While mammal fossils generate significant interest, other fossils including fossilized insects and plants, and even pollen grains, are also valued. These fossils help define a picture of what is thought to have been a cooler, moister climate in the Los Angeles basin during the glacial age. Microfossils are retrieved from the matrix of asphalt and sandy clay by washing with a solvent to remove the petroleum, then picking through the remains under a high-powered lens. Historically, the majority of the mammals excavated from the La Brea deposits had been large carnivores, supporting a hypothesized "carnivore trap" in which large herbivores entrapped in asphalt attracted predators and scavengers which then became entrapped while trying to steal a quick meal. However, new research with an eye towards microfossils has revealed a stunning diversity and abundance of many types of mammals. According to palentologist Thomas Halliday, "Rancho La Brea Tar Pits... where big herbivores typically get stuck in tar which naturally seeps from the ground, and as a result, you get huge concentrations of just specifically herbivores. You get a herbivorous sample of the ecosystem and very few carnivores, except those that are trying to scavenge on the already dead carcasses that have just got stuck in the tar."<ref>{{Citation |title=Palaeontologist Thomas Halliday breaks down prehistoric films |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbgWBVY0gR4 |language=en |access-date=2023-01-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Mammal Collections |url=https://tarpits.org/research-collections/tar-pits-collections/mammal-collections |website=La Brea Tar Pits & Museum |publisher=Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County |access-date=9 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Ojibwa |title=Paleontology 101: Bison and Camels at the La Brea Tar Pits |url=https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/2/21/1743178/-Paleontology-101-Bison-and-Camels-at-the-La-Brea-Tar-Pits |website=Daily Kos |publisher=Kos Media, LLC |access-date=9 May 2021 |date=February 21, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Ojibwa |title=Paleontology 101: The Dire Wolf |url=https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/12/13/1723628/-Paleontology-101-The-Dire-Wolf |website=Daily Kos |publisher=Kos Media, LLC |access-date=9 May 2021 |date=December 13, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Udurawane |first1=Vasika |last2=Lacerda |first2=Julio |title=Trapped in tar: The Ice Age animals of Rancho La Brea |url=https://eartharchives.org/articles/trapped-in-tar-the-ice-age-animals-of-rancho-la-brea/index.html |website=Earth Archives |access-date=9 May 2021 |date=2016}}</ref> ===Bacteria=== [[Methane]] gas escapes from the tar pits, causing bubbles that make the asphalt appear to boil. Asphalt and methane appear under surrounding buildings and require special operations for removal to prevent the weakening of building foundations. In 2007, researchers from [[University of California, Riverside|UC Riverside]] discovered that the bubbles were caused by hardy forms of bacteria embedded in the natural asphalt. After consuming petroleum, the bacteria release methane. Around 200 to 300 species of bacteria were newly discovered here.<ref name="LAT051407">Jia-Rui Chong, [https://archive.today/20130127195142/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tarpits14may14,1,1214388,full.story?coll=la-default-underdog "Researchers learn why tar pits are bubbly"], ''Los Angeles Times'', May 14, 2007.</ref> ==Human presence== Only one human has been found, a partial skeleton of [[La Brea Woman]]<ref name="Merriam1914">{{Smallcaps|J.C. Merriam}} (1914) Preliminary report on the discovery of human remains in an asphalt deposit at Rancho La Brea, ''Science'' 40: 197–203</ref> dated to around 10,000 [[calendar year]]s (about 9,000 [[radiocarbon year]]s) [[before present|BP]],<ref name="O'Keefeetal2009">{{Smallcaps|F.R. O'Keefe, E.V. Fet, and J.M. Harris}} (2009) Compilation, calibration, and synthesis of faunal and floral radiocarbon dates, Rancho La Brea, California, ''Contributions in Science'' 518: 1–16</ref> who was 17 to 25 years old at death<ref name="Kennedy1989">{{Smallcaps|G.E. Kennedy}} (1989) A note on the ontogenetic age of the Rancho La Brea hominid, Los Angeles, California, ''Bulletin, Southern California Academy of Sciences'' 88(3): 123–26</ref> and found associated with remains of a domestic dog, so was interpreted to have been ceremonially interred.<ref name="Reynolds1985">{{Smallcaps|R.L. Reynolds}} (1985) Domestic dog associated with human remains at Rancho La Brea, ''Bulletin, Southern California Academy of Sciences'' 84(2): 76–85</ref> In 2016, however, the dog was determined to be much younger in date.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1179/2055557115Y.0000000011|title = Tar Trap: No Evidence of Domestic Dog Burial with "La Brea Woman"| journal=PaleoAmerica| volume=2| pages=56–59|year = 2016|last1 = Fuller|first1 = Benjamin T.| last2=Southon| first2=John R.| last3=Fahrni| first3=Simon M.| last4=Harris| first4=John M.| last5=Farrell| first5=Aisling B.| last6=Takeuchi| first6=Gary T.| last7=Nehlich| first7=Olaf| last8=Richards| first8=Michael P.| last9=Guiry| first9=Eric J.| last10=Taylor| first10=R. E.|s2cid = 130862425| url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/12670802 }}</ref> Also, some even older fossils showed possible tool marks, indicating humans active in the area at the time. Bones of saber-toothed cats from La Brea showing signs of "artificial" cut marks at oblique angles to the long axis of each bone were radiocarbon dated to 15,200 ± 800 BP (uncalibrated).<ref>Moratto, M. 1984. California Archaeology. Florida: Academic Press, p.54</ref> If these cuts are in fact tool marks resultant from butchering activities, then this material would provide the earliest solid evidence for human association with the Los Angeles Basin. Yet it is also possible that there was some residual contamination of the material as a result of saturation by asphaltum, influencing the radiocarbon dates.<ref>[http://www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/elsegundo/documents/applicants_files/afc_cd-rom/VOLUME%201A/5.7.pdf Technical report for power plant construction. CULTURAL RESOURCES.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222070823/http://www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/elsegundo/documents/applicants_files/afc_cd-rom/VOLUME%201A/5.7.pdf |date=December 22, 2017 }} California Energy Commission, Sacramento, California, December 2000</ref> ==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed"> File:Tar and flora.jpeg|Tar and wild flower run within La Brea campus (2014) File:Mammuthus columbi Page.jpg|Skeleton of a [[Columbian mammoth]] from the tar pits, displayed in the George C. Page Museum File:Smilodon and paramylodon at la brea.jpg|Models of a [[saber-toothed cat]] (''[[Smilodon]] fatalis'') and [[Paramylodon|ground sloth]] on display in 2023 File:La Brea SW04.jpg|Fossil crate (2021) File:La Brea SW03.jpg|Lab technician working on recent specimen ZED (2021) File:La Brea SW02.jpg|Lab technician doing a 3-D scan of a fossil (2021) </gallery> ==See also== {{Portal|Los Angeles|Paleontology}} * [[Binagadi asphalt lake]] * [[Carpinteria Tar Pits]] * [[Lagerstätten]] * [[Lake Bermudez]] * [[List of fossil sites]] * [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]] * [[McKittrick Tar Pits]] * [[Pitch Lake]] ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==External links== {{Commons category|La Brea Tar Pits}} * [http://www.tarpits.org/ Page Museum – La Brea Tar Pits] * [http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/quaternary/labrea.html UCMP Berkeley website: describes the geology and paleontology of the asphalt seeps.] * [http://gocalifornia.about.com/od/calamenu/a/tarpits.htm Gocalifornia.com: La Brea Tar Pits] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409145746/http://gocalifornia.about.com/od/calamenu/a/tarpits.htm |date=April 9, 2017 }} – ''visitor guide''. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20141229005700/http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Lagerstatten/Rancho/default.html Palaeo.uk: "Setting the La Brea site in context."] * [http://www.nhm.org/site/research-collections/rancho-la-brea/pit-91-excavations NHM.org: Pit 91 excavations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506035539/http://www.nhm.org/site/research-collections/rancho-la-brea/pit-91-excavations |date=May 6, 2019 }} {{Wilshire}} {{Los Angeles County, California topics}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:La Brea Tar Pits| ]] [[Category:Asphalt lakes]] [[Category:Fossil parks in the United States]] [[Category:Parks in Los Angeles]] [[Category:Museums in Los Angeles]] [[Category:Natural history museums in California]] [[Category:Natural history of Los Angeles County, California]] [[Category:Paleontology in California]] [[Category:Pleistocene paleontological sites of North America]] [[Category:California Historical Landmarks]] [[Category:Landmarks in Los Angeles]] [[Category:National Natural Landmarks in California]] [[Category:Lagerstätten]] [[Category:Petroleum in California]] [[Category:Pleistocene California]] [[Category:Articles containing video clips]] [[Category:1901 in paleontology]] [[Category:1964 in paleontology]] [[Category:20th century in Los Angeles]] [[Category:Environment of Greater Los Angeles]] [[Category:Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles]] [[Category:Wilshire Boulevard]] [[Category:First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites]]'