Stories

Welcome to Stories, a place to explore—and be inspired by—the wonder of our natural and cultural worlds.

Solving a Juniper Seed Mystery at La Brea Tar Pits

How identifying a mysterious fossil seed reveals Ice Age climate change

Walking With Giant Sloths

Take a (virtual) summer road trip to White Sands National Park to explore the fossilized tracks of giant ground sloths

An adult petroleum fly Helaeomyia petrolei taken with a keyence microscope

Get Stuck on Petroleum Flies

KQED’s Deep Look gets up close and personal with the Tar Pits most successful (and smallest) predator

AR sloth and Sid the sloth from Ice Age movie

What kind of giant sloth is Sid from the Ice Age movies?

Our paleontologists get to the bottom of Sid the giant sloth’s species

Planting the Ice Age

Here are 5 reasons to plant your own Ice Age Garden, and preserve 60,000 years of biodiversity!

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Life recreations American Mammoth Colombian Mastodon

Mammoths vs Mastodons: A La Brea Tar Pits Trunk Show

Discover the differences between Columbian mammoths and American mastodons

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.

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.

Coyotes: Howling from the Ice Age

How coyotes survived the Ice Age extinction

Smilodon, Saber-Tooths, and Tigers…Oh My!

How Smilodon became saber-toothed tigers—and why they're really saber-toothed cats

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