The La Brea Tar Pits and Museum is one of the most popular destinations for both tourists and Southern California residents in the City of Los Angeles. We are likely best known for our large collection of assembled skeletons of extinct Ice Age animals. We are also a leading research facility in the study of all the plants and animals that lived here from the present to 55,000 years ago.
In the 1870s the Hancock family, which owned the property now known as Hancock Park, operated an asphalt quarry. The location of that is now the Lake Pit north of Wilshire Boulevard. Numerous bones were found and mostly discarded in the belief that they were the remains of the domestic animals that could be seen throughout the area. However, a great moment in science occurred in 1875 when someone noticed what was later identified as one of the large canine teeth of a Saber Tooth Cat and didn’t throw it away. That discovery eventually led to the recognition that we actually had one of the largest accumulations of Ice Age fossils ever found as well as all the work that has ensued from that.
On Sunday, April 7th, at 1:00 P.M. we will be having a Docent led tour of the museum, the outdoor exhibits and the current excavations. You will have the opportunity to see and learn about our best known skeletons—the Columbian Mammoth, the Dire Wolf, Saber Tooth Cat and others. Current research activities will be discussed. You will observe ongoing efforts to excavate the very large quantity of fossils originally found in what is now the LACMA underground parking garage. You will also learn that there has never been any Tar at the La Brea Tar Pits.
The tour is limited to 10 people. Admission to the museum is included. Complementary parking in the lot at Curson and 6th is also included. Reservations are required.
Minyan member Zwi Reznik is a regular docent at the Tar Pits. Please let him know if you will be coming. zwireznik@gmail.com. Due to ongoing regular blocking of Curson between Wilshire and 6th he urges car-pooling, mass transit or walking.
