Is it possible to escape Tar Pits?

Today’s tar pits are harder to spot and less deadly but they can still ruin your life, business and career just as easily. E-mail, cell phones and PDA’s will all lead you into today’s modern tar pits and suck you under if you allow them to. They can’t be escaped and they will bury you if you allow it.

What animal might be preserved in a tar pit?

The fossils include many big animals, such as mammoths, camels and saber-toothed cats. Some preserve what’s left of ants, wasps, beetles and other tinier organisms. Many fossilized species have gone extinct. Others, including certain insects, no longer live in Los Angeles — but still can be found nearby.

What animals have been found in the La Brea Tar Pits?

Among the prehistoric species associated with the La Brea Tar Pits are Pleistocene mammoths, dire wolves, short-faced bears, American lions, ground sloths, and, the state fossil of California, the saber-toothed cat (Smilodon fatalis).

How deep do tar pits go?

inches deep
3. The tar pits are only a few inches deep! Did you always imagine prehistoric animals sinking into the tar pit goo like it was a sticky quicksand, until they finally sank out of sight?

What is under the La Brea Tar Pits?

Basin between 50,000 years ago and today. We research and exhibit huge, extinct mammals such as saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, and mammoths, as well as “microfossils”—the tiny remains of plants and animals that can give us clues about past and present climate change.

Why aren’t there any dinosaur bones in the tar pits?

There are no dinosaurs preserved in the La Brea Tar Pits because the last of the dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago , and the oldest bones preserved at La Brea are only 40,000 years old!

Why are there Tar Pits in LA?

The fossil fuels have been seeping through fissures in the sediment for the last 40,000 years and in low-lying areas, those deposits pool, creating– you guessed it– tar pits.

How many animals were found in the La Brea Tar Pits?

Since 1906, more than one million bones have been recovered, representing over 231 species of vertebrates. In addition, 159 species of plants and 234 species of invertebrates have been identified. It is estimated that the collections at La Brea Tar Pits contain about three million items.

Why are there more carnivores in the tar pits?

And there are far more carnivore and predator specimens in the pit than herbivores, perhaps because carnivores were drawn to the pits when herbivores were mired in the tar and became mired themselves.

Are tar pits real in real life?

The real life tar pits are actually a “death trap” for any animals that mistake it for a body of water or the corpse of an animal as a so-called “easy lunch” (called a predator trap) because the asphault forms a black, sticky liquid that is thick enough to trap even mammoths into it’s relentless grip and eventually kill them by suffocation.

Did tar pits really exist during the times of the dinosaurs?

It is debatable if tar pits really existed during the times of the dinosaurs, as evidence shows that pits of sticky mud existed during the time, and would do the exact same thing to the dinosaurs. Some examples of this are the Cleveland Dinosaur Quarry & the Gobi Desert Dinosaur Death Traps.

What are the most famous tar pits in the world?

The most famous tar pits are the Le Brea tar pits of LA. It is debatable if tar pits really existed during the times of the dinosaurs, as evidence shows that pits of sticky mud existed during the time, and would do the exact same thing to the dinosaurs. Some examples of this are the Cleveland Dinosaur Quarry & the Gobi Desert Dinosaur Death Traps.

What are some of the most famous prehistoric animals in California?

The Saber-Toothed Tiger, a prehistoric animal of California. The Saber-Tooth Tiger (often referred to by its genus name, Smilodon) is far and away the most famous (and most common) prehistoric mammal of California, thanks to the recovery of literally thousands of complete skeletons from the famous La Brea Tar Pits of downtown Los Angeles.