Page Museum (La Brea Tar Pits)

This was my third visit to La Brea Tar Pits, but my first time in the museum 

Bison

 

Harlan's Ground Sloth







 

Shasta Ground Sloth forefeet and claws

It is interesting to see the size of animals found in the pits. They must have been extremely tempting meals to have attracted so many predators. The ancient bison was larger than those we know today. The larger ground sloth, Harlan's, was estimated to have weighed 1500 lbs. and stood 6 feet high.


 Below are skeletons of a camel, an adult Mastedon and a baby Mastedon, which are smaller than the Woolly Mammoth of an earlier epoch.

Camel in front



baby and adult Mastedon in front



Woolly Mammoth bones have been uncovered, but only recently have they found any with tusks intact.

Mammoth

So what were the predators who often got stuck with these huge beasts?

Raptors  and scavenger birds were found in abundance.  I like the way the museum displays the skeletons with a rendering of what these birds may have looked like.

Hundreds of bird bones were found, but they were small in number compared to the 'big 3' predators

Coyote - over 1000 found

Sabertooth - over 2000 found



I can't imagine these huge teeth were helpful



Dire Wolf - over 4000 found