Story Topics | La Brea Tar Pits

Illustration of ice age bird, the teratorn.

Meet Teratorn, the Largest Bird Found at La Brea Tar Pits

The teratorn was undoubtedly big, but was it a big vulture or something else?

Mark Dion standing outside in front of mammoth sculptures and lake pit

Mark Dion Talks Excavations

Mark Dion discusses his immersive, uncanny installation at La Brea Tar Pits.

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

La Brea Tar Pits National Natural Landmark

Research and Collections

A Landmark Anniversary for La Brea Tar Pits

Mark the 60th anniversary of La Brea Tar Pits' designation as a National Natural Landmark with some vintage photography.

The Lincoln Heights Whale skull being moved by staff on pallets outside the Museum

The Migration of the Lincoln Heights Whale

As modern whales make their annual journey across the ocean, discover one whale’s 10 million-year journey through time from Flat Top Hill to L.A. Underwater

Bloomberg Connects Header Image depicting the screen of a guide user

Digital Guide to La Brea Tar Pits

Explore La Brea Tar Pits—including the new Mark Dion exhibit Excavations—as well as over 160 international museums, galleries, sculpture parks, gardens, and cultural spaces on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app.

Research and Collections

Jurassic Perks

How Jurassic Park helped spark a boom in new dinosaur discoveries

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.