The La Brea Tar Pits are a group of natural asphalt seeps in the middle of Los Angeles, California, where crude oil seeping to the surface over tens of thousands of years trapped and preserved the bones of Ice Age animals. Excavations beginning in the early twentieth century have recovered millions of fossil specimens representing hundreds of species, including saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, mammoths and ground sloths, making the site one of the richest sources of Pleistocene fossils in the world. The tar continues to seep today, and the surrounding Hancock Park and its museum remain an active excavation site.
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