A guitar musician in the plaza plays even while it drizzles.
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Visitors can try to pull on a pole stuck in the same tar, to see how difficult it is for a trapped animal to pull its leg from the tar. The suction is incredible.
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Harlan's Ground sloth (Glossotherium harlani) about 6 feet tall
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Antique Bison skeleton
(Bison Antiquus)
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SKULLS of California Saber-tooth (Smilodon californicus),
Extinct California Condor (Gymnogyps amplus),
Mountain lion (Felis concolor),
Flat-headed Peccary (Platygomus);
Coyote (canis latrans),
Badger (taxidea taxus),
Grey fox (Urocyon cineroargenteus),
Striped skunk (Memphitis memphitis,
Gopher (thomomys),
lizard & snake bones,
Spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius), and
Deer mouse (Peromyscus)
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SKULLS of Extinct Camel (Camelops hesternus)
American Pronghorn Antelope (Antilocapra americana)
Shasta Ground Sloth (Nothrotheriops shastensis)
Sloth skin bones (Harlan's ground sloth)
Black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus)
California quail (Lophortyx californicus)
Bones of small birds, and fresh water shells
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SKULL of Extinct Western horse (Equus occidentalis)
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SKULL & LEG comparisons of BLACK BEAR (Ursus americanus) to an AMERICAN LION (panthera leo atrox)
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SKULLS of DIRE WOLF (canis dirus), California SABER-TOOTH (Smilodon Californicus) (Juvenile and young adult)
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Imperial MAMMOTH (Mammuthus imperator) - Juvenile milk tooth compared to adult permanent molar
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SKULLS of Antique bison, and LEG BONES California Turkey (Parapavo californicus)
Antique Bison and Saber toothed cat skulls
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Life wear on the California SABER-TOOTH CAT, showing broken & worn sabers, fused neck vertebrae, healed broken rib, fused back vertebrae; DIRE WOLF - comparison crippled leg & shoulder bone compared to normal
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California SABER-TOOTH CAT skeleton, showing size next to Glenn
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Extinct CAMEL skeleton (Camelops hesternus)
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American MASTODON skeleton (Mammut americanum), mother and 6 year old baby
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THE HUMAN EQUATION
Cutting edge prehistoric blades were glued to a wooden handle by asphalt and secured by animal tendons or sea grass cords. Other artifacts found show how ancient peoples used asphalt in weapons, lures, tools and utensils
During the Ice Age, the growth of continental glaciers locked up millions of cubic miles of precipitation that would normally have gone into the oceans. The absence of this water lowered the sea level more than 300 feet, creating a land bridge connecting Asia & North America. Ancient peoples and mammals crossed the bridge to populate North America.
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Woolly MAMMOTH (Mammuthus primigenius) two-thirds of actual size, they are smaller than Columbian mammoths, about the size of Asian elephants.
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Columbian MAMMOTH skeleton (Mammuthus columbi), this specimen is 12 feet tall
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Shasta GROUND SLOTH Skeleton (Nothrotheriops shastense), a browser on shrubs or low-hanging tree branches
Scapula (shoulder blade) from Giant ground sloth
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I believe this is a Condor
Merriam's Giant CONDOR (Teratornis merriami)
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La Brea CARACARA skeleton (Polyborus prelutosus), an extinct long-legged scavenger related to falcons and caracaras.
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California TURKEY skeleton
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DIRE WOLF SKULLS (Canis dirus) an incredible 404 dire wolf skulls represent only a portion of the more than 1600 wolves' remains found here at La Brea
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DIRE WOLF skeleton, a close relative of the timber wolf but with stronger teeth and jaws, hunted in packs
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American Lion (Felis atrox), a fierce predator larger than the Indian Tiger, African lion or California Saber-toothed cat
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California SABER TOOTHED CAT skeleton
Diorama of Saber toothed CAT family
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Short-faced bear (Arctodus sinus) now extinct, was a foot taller than the grizzly and about TWICE its weight
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An amazing display of GOLDEN EAGLE (Aquila chrysaetos) FOOT BONES from 1000 birds
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One room, and mirror to show the size of the rooms holding trays of fossils
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Extinct Western HORSE skeleton
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Diorama of Saber toothed CAT attacking a giant ground SLOTH, as seen by a woolly
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A near-complete COLUMBIAN MAMMOTH
NAMED "ZED"
being worked on in the Paleontology Lab at the Page Museum
He had a rough life in the Ice Age, sporting a couple of broken ribs and a cancerous lesion on his jaw before dying at the age of 40 (60 is average). Both tusks were found intact (a rare occurrence).
In 2006, an earth moving machine making a parking garage close to the Page Museum property came upon the skeleton by hitting the skull. The museum paleontologists "tree-boxed" 23 crates of 2-3 million fossils from this site as quickly as possible, so contractors could continue their work. It is now called Project 23. For more info, link here to the Page Museum or read other news articles by typing in "Zed mammoth":
tarpits.org
nhm.org
More info on Zed below that we documented from our visit
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