I spent today at the La Brea tar pits with a group of science illustrators from the Southern CA GNSI chapter. We got a behind the scenes tour of the paleo lab, and their bone room, which is just miles and miles of bones in drawers...

Things I learned:

- The La Brea tar pits are neither pits, nor are they made from tar.

- The "tar" is a liquid asphalt substance that was more like flypaper than quicksand - animals would step in only about 4 inches of the tar and become mired, then would die above ground - not sinking in quickly as is usually depicted.

- The "pits" are holes formed from excavations during the early part of the 20th century. The tarry asphalt naturally flows up from underground, and filled up the holes after they were dug out. Somehow, though, "La Brea Asphalt Puddles" doesn't quite have the same dramatic appeal.

- Approximately one out of every five adults who walked past the mammoth skeleton made a comment about the saber-toothed squirrel from "Ice Age."

- One out of every three kids under the age of 12 who walked past the mammoth skeleton said, "COOOL!!!"

- The three most common species found in the pits are: 1. Dire Wolf, 2. Saber-toothed cats, 3. Coyotes.

- The skeletons on display are composed of many different animals. They don't usually recover complete skeletons in the mud the way you'd find a fossil in stone.

- Mammoths were the most common ice age mammals, but the tar pits caught a disproportionate number of carnivores. The reason for this is believed to be because of the inherent nature of carnivores to eat whatever else is weaker than they are - once the tar pits claimed one animal, many other carnivores would be attracted by the prospect of an easy meal.

- I drew the mammoth skull from a whole mammoth skeleton. They are of course, gigantic, at an average of 15,000 pounds and 12' tall.

- While I was drawing it, a little boy came and watched me for a minute, and said doubtfully, "You're NEVER going to fit all THAT on one page!"

- He was entirely correct.

Check out the rest of the photos!

posted by Lorna Brown at 4:06 AM