Pre-historic Los Angeles

   Another fun topic to get things started are the fossils of prehistoric mammals of the Los Angeles region. La Brea tar pits and the Page Museum offer an amazing exhibit of all kinds of prehistoric mammals from the Los Angeles Region.  They also touch light on techniques possibly used by the Tongva and Paleo-Indian. The Tar Pits are more famously known for trapping animals, yet the tar pits provided an unbelievably useful resource for indigenous people. The Page Museum that houses the fossils found in the pits is a quite extensive and beautiful facility that is immensely informative. The site houses thousands of fossils found on location and the museum displays as many as they can. Providing a glimpse into the world of prehistoric studies and archiving methods. Furthermore, the museums focus aims to educate the public about the pre-history of Los Angeles. A few particular inhabitants of the post-ice age era in California caught me by surprise. The Colombian Mammoth and the California Saber Tooth Tiger that roamed the west coast nearly 10,000-40,000 years ago.

   The Californian Saber-Tooth Tiger also known as the American Lion is well known for its immense saber teeth, which are two enlarged canines. These big cats roamed the coast attacking giant sloths, mastodons, and even few mammoths. What really makes the Saber tooth Tiger impressive is the over ninety degree angle it can open its jaw to. Along with its powerful pounce and extremely sharp claws the Saber-Tooth already near five feet in length could leap five to ten feet to attack its prey. Another fun fact about the Saber-Tooth is that as a juvenile grows adult teeth this means during a small period in the cats life it actually has up to four canines (saber teeth).

   The Colombian Mammoth stands alone nearly twenty feet and length including the tusk can extend up too forty feet—the size of a small Recreational Vehicle.  This astonishing mammal’s full skeleton is on display at the Page Museum. The immense size of the animal makes one think about what California actually looked like as these mammals roamed around. The molars surface area covers at least eight inches by 5 inches and over a foot in length. The tusks are some of the most astonishing features with a diameter of nearly 8 inches and almost five feet in length fully grown sometimes even larger. 

   It truly is astonishing to drive up the coast and see the amazing change in landscapes. From Southern Californian fields with the aged live oaks, to the giant redwoods and sequoias. These animals once roamed the lands of our community before any evidence of civilization. It may be unfortunate—or maybe luckily—that modern civilization never had contact with these creatures. However, there are plenty of over indigenous animals that have disappeared from California. The Saber- Tooth tiger happens to be California’s official fossil. What is even more impressive than the animals and the indigenous people that are discussed in the Page Museum is the Museums history itself. In a Latter post we will examine how Rancho La Brea became the historical site that it is and the individuals responsible for preserving a vital historical resource in Los Angeles. We will also look at other tar pit regions within southern California and how the resource of oil effects the development of regions.