Story Topics | La Brea Tar Pits

Tropical reef with fish swimming around it

Science of SpongeBob: Marine Protected Areas

How can we preserve Bikini Bottoms around the world?

Launch pad for the Ariane 6 for Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana

Research and Collections

Spaceport Fossils from French Guiana

How one small step for a spaceport in French Guiana led to a giant leap for Pleistocene fossils

Blue-grey gnatcatcher on Laurel Sumac from the Irwindale burn area

Nature in L.A.

Ash and Green Shoots

Wildfires can leave scars on our psyches and the landscape. Community Science Program Manager Sam Tayag discusses finding solace in witnessing nature’s recovery.

Coyotes: Howling from the Ice Age

How coyotes survived the Ice Age extinction

Fire north of Montrose-La Crescenta, November 1933.

Research and Collections

How Los Angeles Moved Uncomfortably Close to Mountain Wildfires

A look at L.A.'s growth toward wildfires through historic images from the Seaver Center

Wildfire Smoke and Birds

A Q&A with Dr. Olivia Sanderfoot, Director of Project Phoenix

Life reconstruction of fire at La Brea Tar Pits during the Pleistocene as bison are stuck during a wildfire

Why Did the Ice Age Titans Go Extinct?

A new study reveals that human impacts in an environment made fire-prone by climate change and herbivore loss led to large mammals vanishing from southern California.

Green returning to the Angeles National Forest in Southern California six months after the Station Fire.

Where There's Smoke

A look at what we know and don't know about how growing wildfires impact our natural world, and how we can learn to cope

Playing With Fire: Extinction and Survival at La Brea Tar Pits

In California, 13,000 years ago, huge Ice Age mammals that had roamed the landscape for many millennia, suddenly ceased to exist. The cause? Humans, catastrophic fires, and an ecosystem made vulnerable by climate change.

Nature in L.A.

Match Point

Regan Dunn, Interim Assistant Deputy Director and Assistant Curator at La Brea Tar Pits, looks at the pervasive planetary issue of fire with a long-term lens.