Page Museum Collections Contacts
Aisling B. Farrell
Collections Manager
(323) 857-6300 ext 127
afarrell@tarpits.org
RLB Excavations Gallery
Rancho La Brea in Pictures
Browse through our excavation photos, dating from 1900 to today >
Fish, Amphibians, and Reptiles
Do you want to check out a current list of fish, amphibian, and reptile species found at Rancho La Brea? Learn more >
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Rancho La Brea Resources
Rancho La Brea: Treasures of the Tar Pits. Revised edition by Harris J.M. 2010
Rancho La Brea: a record of Pleistocene life in California. Stock, C. 1992. 7th ed. Revised by J.M. Harris. Science Series no. 37. Los Angeles: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 113pp. [Standard reference with faunal list and extensive bibliography]
Rancho La Brea: death trap and treasure trove. Harris, J.M., ed. 2001. Terra, 38(2):1-56. ["Popular" account]
Useful References
Denton, W. 1875. On the asphalt bed near Los Angeles, California. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, 18:185-186. [First description of fossils from Rancho La Brea]
Marcus, L.F., and R. Berger. 1984. The significance of radicarbon dates for Rancho La Brea. In Quaternary Extinctions: A Prehistoric Revolution, ed. P.S. Martin and R.G. Klein, 159-183.
Savage, D.E. 1951. Late Cenozoic vertebrates of the San Francisco Bay region. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences, 28(10):215-314. [Publication that established the Rancholabrean Land Mammal Age]
Shaw, C.A., and J.P. Quinn. 1986. Rancho La Brea: A look at coastal southern California's past. California Geology, 39 (6):123-133. [Geological summary]
Recent Publications
Meachen-Samuels, J. and B. Van Valkenburgh. 2010. Radiographs reveal eceptional forelimb strength in the sabertooth cat, Smilodon fatalis. PLoS ONE 5(7):
O'Keefe F.R., E.V.Fet and J.M. Harris 2009. Compilation, Calibration, and Synthesis of faunal and floral radiocarbon dates, Rancho La Brea, California. Contributions in Science. 518: 4 December 2009
Meachen-Samuels, J. and W. Binder. 2009. Sexual dimorphism and ontogenetic growth in the American lion and the sabertoothed cat from Rancho La Brea. Journal of Zoology. November 2009 (abstract)
Christiansen, P. and J.M. Harris. 2009. Craniomandibular morphology and phylogenetic affinities of the great Pleistocene felid Panthera atrox. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29(3) 934-945
Friscia, A.R., B. van Valkenberg, L. Spencer and J.M. Harris. 2008. Chronology and spatial distribution of large mammal bones in Pit 91, Rancho La Brea. Palaios 23:35-42.
Click here to see an extended bibliography