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Why is Rancho La Brea Important?
The Library of the Pleistocene
The more than 650 species of plants and animals housed at the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits provide a reference collection for the late Pleistocene that is used by researchers worldwide.
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Recent Additions to the Collection
"Fluffy"
This specimen is a skull of an American lion (Panthera atrox), nicknamed "Fluffy" by the volunteer who cleaned it. It was discovered in one of the more fossiliferous grids of Deposit 1, Project 23. Also discovered along with this skull are a number of American lion postcranial elements such as a scapula, partial pelvis, femur, tibia, and vertebrae which possibly belong to this individual. As with most deposits at Rancho La Brea, these bones were found jumbled with those of many other species thus making it difficult to ascertain whether we have one individual lion or several individuals. After all of these bones have been cleaned and correctly identified, the positional data taken during excavation will be entered into our computer database, allowing us to visualise the bones in 3D space. This will help us to learn more about "Fluffy."
Above: Left-dorsal view of a Panthera atrox skull. Right-close-up of Panthera atrox right fourthpremolar and first molar.
