La brea tar pit presentation

La Brea Tar PitLauren Kim 1(B)

Wednesday, March 5, 14

What is it?

•La Brea Tar Pit is where natural asphalt, petroleum seeps from the ground starting

around 40,000 years ago

•petroleum evaporates quickly because its lighter component than asphalt

•animals would get trapped inside the sticky pit and die there

•very sticky, especially during warm days, so it can trap very large animals

•leaves, dusts, and water would cover the surface

•made from marine life and sediments that piled up on the ocean floor

•pressure converted the remains into fossil fuels



Where was it formed?

•La Brea Tar Pit is located at the Page Museum in Hancock Park near the LA County

Museum of Art in the Miracle Mile neighborhood

•in the heart of Los Angeles


What are the fossils discovered in the pit?

•Mammals•Columbian Mammoth•Short-faced Bear•Raccoon•Giant Bison•Saber-toothed ca

•Birds•Eagle•Hawk•Falcon•California Condor •Night Heron

There are more than 600 plants and 3.5 million animals in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County


Saber-toothed Cat Columbian Mammoth

Short-faced Bear

Hawk

California Condor


What are the fossils discovered in the pit?

•Reptiles, amphibians, and fish•garter snake•western pond turtle•tree frog•salamander•toad

•Arthropods •fly•dung beetle•grasshopper•scorpion•termite

•Plants•Western poison oak•Ragweed•Raspberry•Thistle•Walnut tree



Interesting Facts

•90% of the fossils are carnivores

•what happens at the pit:

•weak prey animals (injured or weak) would become trapped in the pit

•many predators would come to eat the prey and would get trapped as well

•Dire Wolf is the oldest fossil, around 40,000 years old

•Most common fossil that is found: Dire Wolf

•more than 4,000 Dire Wolfs have been recovered from the Tar Pit

•La Brea Tar Pit is a famous tourist attraction, which has fossils back from the Ice Age



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La brea tar pit presentation