La Brea Tar Pits & Museum
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La Brea Tar Pits & Museum
@tarpits.org
14K followers 41 following 250 posts
One of the most famous fossil localities, recognized for having the largest and most diverse assemblage of extinct Ice Age plants and animals in the world. Open 9:30am - 5pm daily.

http://linktr.ee/thelabreatarpits
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La Brea Tar Pits & Museum @tarpits.org · 13d
Ever wanted exclusive access to the #TarPits?

Beginning December 20, join an expert guide on select dates for a tour of the site, meet researchers, sort real micro fossils, and fuel crucial research while inspiring the next generation of paleontologists. 

Book your tour: go.nhm.org/tar-pits-tour
A special guest takes a photo of the Lake Pit Mammoth Family at La Brea Tar Pits with text, "La Brea Tar Pits Insider Tour / Your Backstage Pass to the Ice Age" with the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum logo.
tarpits.org
Take a step back into #TarPits history in the heart of Hancock Park! Stroll the paths, watch real excavations, and see science in action right in the heart of L.A.

When will you be visiting? Plan ahead at TARPITS.org.
Statue of a small faced bear at Hancock Park. Guests strolling Hancock park.
December 26, 2025 at 7:25 PM
tarpits.org
Closure Advisory ⚠️ Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of our visitors and staff, the Museum will close at 3pm on Wednesday, December 24, due to the impending storms. Stay safe and dry out there!
December 23, 2025 at 11:08 PM
tarpits.org
✔️ Enter the Lake Pit
✔️ Selfie with the Columbian mammoth family
✔️ Sort real microfossils
✔️ Support our science

Dig deep into the history and discoveries of La Brea #TarPits with our first-ever official Insider Tour on select dates: go.nhm.org/tar-pits-tour
A special guest takes a photo of the Lake Pit Mammoth Family at La Brea Tar Pits with text, "La Brea Tar Pits Insider Tour / Your Backstage Pass to the Ice Age" with the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum logo.
December 23, 2025 at 10:27 PM
tarpits.org
Did you know Hancock Park is home to plants that echo L.A.’s Ice Age past?

#TarPits scientists have recreated this prehistoric landscape with the Pleistocene Garden, representing the native vegetation of the L.A. Basin 10,000 to 40,000 years ago.
December 18, 2025 at 5:46 PM
tarpits.org
Ever wanted exclusive access to the #TarPits?

Beginning December 20, join an expert guide on select dates for a tour of the site, meet researchers, sort real micro fossils, and fuel crucial research while inspiring the next generation of paleontologists. 

Book your tour: go.nhm.org/tar-pits-tour
A special guest takes a photo of the Lake Pit Mammoth Family at La Brea Tar Pits with text, "La Brea Tar Pits Insider Tour / Your Backstage Pass to the Ice Age" with the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum logo.
December 16, 2025 at 6:38 PM
tarpits.org
From saber-toothed cats to P-22, L.A. has been the home of iconic big cats for ages. In celebration of “Fierce! The Story of Cats” on view at @nhm.org, meet some of the bygone big cats that called the South Land home. youtu.be/-PvAbUGnxgc
The Big Cats of L.A. #losangeles #cats #mountainlions #museum #naturalhistory #nature
YouTube video by La Brea Tar Pits and Museum
youtu.be
December 13, 2025 at 12:18 AM
tarpits.org
🦌 Small but speedy! The Dwarf Pronghorn once darted across Ice Age Los Angeles, a tiny relative of today’s pronghorns that called the region home thousands of years ago.

Fossils found at the #TarPits help us uncover how these pint-sized runners thrived in a world of giants.
December 10, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by La Brea Tar Pits & Museum
nhm.org
🎁 Still looking for that special gift? From dinosaurs to fierce felines, celebrate the holiday season with #NHMLAC gifts that spark awe!

Shop exclusive collections both in-store and online: shop.nhm.org
Various museum gifts from the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County including a butterfly totebag, La Brea Tar Pits hoodie, saber-toothed cat ornament, mugs, and plushies.
December 9, 2025 at 10:37 PM
tarpits.org
🫏 How did donkeys and pumas help resurrect extinct food webs in Death Valley?

Learn how #TarPits research reveals how mountain lions have adapted lost Ice Age predator-prey dynamics, while restoring desert wetlands through preying on wild donkeys: bit.ly/BurroingInto...
Introduced donkeys in the wild photographed by Michael Alfuso Details from the 1988 Mark Hallett mural, “Trapped in Time". Wild donkeys by iNaturalist user rawcomposition.
December 8, 2025 at 10:35 PM
tarpits.org
Discover how 20,000 years after the ice age’s coldest snap, Los Angeles is still the city of cats through #TarPits research and “Fierce! The Story of Cats”, on view now at @nhm.org.

nhm.org/cats
December 5, 2025 at 6:11 PM
tarpits.org
🦴 Meet the short-faced bear, one of the Ice Age’s biggest, baddest predators.

Although only portions of these unique species have been uncovered at the #TarPits, scientists have pieced together the most up-to-date look into the history of this massive Ice Age mammal.
Giant short-faced bear on display at the La Brea Tar Pits. Giant short-faced bear on display at the La Brea Tar Pits.
December 4, 2025 at 7:38 PM
tarpits.org
Are you familiar with the fiercest Ice Age Angeleno? Beyond their size, evidence from #TarPits research suggests American lions lived up to the name 𝘗𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘹, which translates to "cruel or frightful panther": go.nhm.org/biggest-cat
Close-up of a saber-toothed cat fossil mount from La Brea Tar Pits.
December 2, 2025 at 11:33 PM
tarpits.org
🦴 Ever wonder how fossils are uncovered from the #TarPits?

Scientists carefully excavate Ice Age remains—bone by bone—from bubbling asphalt seeps right in the heart of L.A.

Experience science in action at TARPITS.org.
Excavation in Pit 91. Text "During excavation, fossil deposits are discovered with bones from different animals all jumbled together. Hammers and chisels are used for digging hard areas while dental tools are used for working near fossils." on top of an image of a mammoth excavation at LACMA. An old photo from an excavation in Pit 77. Text "Dirt (or matrix) is removed from each fossil which contains tiny specimens which are detected later in the Fossil Lab. Each fossil is photographed and recorded in a field notebook. This information follows the bone to the Fossil Lab where it is prepared." on top of an image of a volunteer recording excavation findings in a field notebook.
December 1, 2025 at 10:14 PM
tarpits.org
🦃 Happy Thanksgiving! Did you know the wild turkey has fossil roots in L.A.? #TarPits researchers uncovered nearly 12,000 bones of a now-extinct turkey species from the Ice Age!

Discover which turkeys walked the same ground we do today: bit.ly/TarPitsTurke...
A photo of a wild turkey taken by iNaturalist user kylenessen. An illustrated depiction of M. californica.
November 24, 2025 at 9:15 PM
tarpits.org
In honor of #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth, our Museums will offer free admission to all visitors from 3 - 5pm this Friday, November 21. Free tickets will be available at any on-site museum ticketing desk.

The #NHMLAC is proud to offer this general admission benefit at both @tarpits.org and @nhm.org.
Mammal fossil mounts on view at La Brea Tar Pits and Museum. The African Mammal diorama at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
November 20, 2025 at 9:21 PM
tarpits.org
Did you know 1 in 4 people in L.A. County experiences food insecurity? Beginning November 14, help make a difference this season by donating to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank during your next visit to @nhm.org or #TarPits.

For food assistance, suggested items, and more, visit lafoodbank.org.
November 13, 2025 at 9:50 PM
tarpits.org
🪏😱 We're digging up the best of Project 23!

Hidden in the tar are fossils too small to see with the naked eye: pollen grains.

These microscopic time capsules preserve clues about Ice Age landscapes, revealing what plants grew in ancient L.A. and how ecosystems shifted over thousands of years.
Image 1: Matrix found at La Brea Tar Pits. Text "Of the more than 50,000 Ice Age fossils dug up in Project 23, the smallest by far are pollen grains! One gram of sediment can contain hundreds to thousands of these tiny particles, identifiable beneath microscopic lenses." on top of an image of cells on the surface of a fossil leaf from Project 23, Box 1 as seen on an fluorescent microscope. Image of a grass phytolith from Project 23, Box 9.
November 13, 2025 at 6:37 PM
tarpits.org
🌳 If a tree falls in the #TarPits, does it make a sound? A new study reveals how ancient trees from La Brea helped warm the planet during the last ice age by coughing up CO₂: go.nhm.org/fossil-trees
The Pit 3 Tree is currently on display as part of Mark Dion's Pacific Standard Time exhibit Excavations, as part of an 'uncovered diorama'. Courtesy of Tyler Hayden.
November 10, 2025 at 9:54 PM
tarpits.org
L.A. Times Columnist @pattmlatimes.bsky.social takes a short walk through a long history with Dr. Regan Dunn, who explains how and why the first Angelenos would have set fires that filled the broad bowl of L.A. and foretold the curse of smog in the podcast “Boiling Point: Smoglandia”, now streaming!
Dueling saber-toothed cat statue outside of La Brea Tar Pits Museum in Hancock Park. Cover art for podcast "Boiling Point: Smoglandia" with text "LA TIMES STUDIOS" and "Smoglandia" logo as a person sits behind the steering wheel of a car wearing a heavy duty protective mask.
November 4, 2025 at 10:49 PM
tarpits.org
Over the last 50,000 years, Ice Age animals, plants, and insects were trapped in sticky asphalt, which preserved them for us to find today.

Learn more about the countless discoveries made at the #TarPits at TARPITS.org
Asphalt bubbles forming in La Brea Tar Pit's Lake Pit. Excavation in La Brea Tar Pit's Pit 91. Recreation of a mammoth becoming trapped in “tar" in La Brea Tar Pit's Lake Pit.
November 3, 2025 at 10:02 PM
tarpits.org
What lies within the depths of Los Angeles? Look back 80 million years and discover more at TARPITS.org.
Illustration of the strata formation of a Tar Pit.
October 31, 2025 at 5:08 PM
tarpits.org
😸 We're all about 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙨-tory!

This #NationalCatDay, we're celebrating the fiercest felines of the Ice Age—like the mighty saber-toothed cat who once prowled right in the heart of L.A.

Visit the #TarPits to discover more about these ancient predators!
An American scimitar-toothed cat on display at the La Brea Tar Pits. Fossilized skulls of an American lion, Saber-toothed cat, Scimitar-toothed cat, and a Pleistocene North American Jaguar. A Fossil of a saber-toothed cat on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles' Fierce! The Story of Cats exhibition.
October 29, 2025 at 6:07 PM
tarpits.org
Combining art and science, Mark Dion’s immersive, uncanny installation at La Brea #TarPits has been recently extended! Don’t miss “Excavations”, now on view through July 2026: go.nhm.org/mark-dion
Artist Mark Dion stands at one of his artistic displays at La Brea Tar Pits.
October 24, 2025 at 10:48 PM
tarpits.org
Calling all Homeschool Teachers and Students! Thursday, October 30, join us at the #TarPits for our fall Homeschool Day, “Terrific Taphonomy!”, and learn how organisms become fossilized or preserved! Learn more and RSVP today: go.nhm.org/lbtp-hsd-1030
Small children utilize a paintbrush to sort through microfossils at La Brea Tar Pits.
October 22, 2025 at 9:59 PM
tarpits.org
⏳ How old is Ice Age L.A.? Fossils from Project 23 tell us 35,000 to 45,000 years.

Dating these findings provides scientists with a timeline to help piece together life in ancient Los Angeles.

Discover more about through stories, videos, latest research, and more at TARPITS.org.
Image of a panthera skull. Text "Carbon dating of specimens rendered from Project 23 suggests they're among the older deposits found at the Tar Pits, ranging between 35,000 and 45,000 years old." on top of an image of fossils found at La Brea Tar Pits being stored on a tray. Different types of fossils found at La Brea Tar Pits.
October 22, 2025 at 7:50 PM