5 Strange Prehistoric Creatures Found Stuck In Tar Pits
Description: Tar pits are incredible sites for uncovering the remains of prehistoric animals. The sticky substance can become a deathtrap for unwary animals, quickly forming predator traps. While this is bad news for the animals, it is fantastic for palaeontologists, as countless astonishing discoveries of prehistoric creatures have been unearthed tens of thousands of years after their demise. Although a few notable active tar pits can be found across the globe, the most extensively studied one is La Brea, situated in the heart of Los Angeles. So, let’s take a closer look at five of the most astonishing discoveries made at the La Brea tar pits.
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Sources:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982219307869
American camel Camelops hesternus:
https://eartharchives.org/articles/ice-age-camel-bones-found-in-yukon-redraw-species-lineage/index.html
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2015.1020800
https://tarpits.org/stories/las-ancient-camel
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0895981123004066?via%3Dihub
https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.palaeo.2021.110360
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S003101821630394
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1420650112
https://karger.com/bbe/article/98/2/107/842109
Teratornis:
http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/2019/08/we-need-to-talk-about-teratorns.html
https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v100n02/p0390-p0403.pdf
https://tarpits.org/stories/meet-teratorn-largest-bird-found-la-brea-tar-pits
https://tarpits.org/research-collections/tar-pits-collections/bird-collections
Dire Wolf:
https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2014/723-canis-dirus-craniometrics
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724630903413016
http://www.redciencia.cu/geobiblio/paper/2015_LasBreas%20Biotas.pdf#page=29
https://nhm.org/stories/dire-wolf-ice-age-angeleno
https://tarpits.org/stories/our-evolving-understanding-dire-wolves
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03082-x
https://news.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Dire-wolf-ancestry-pre-print.pdf
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022%5B0423%3ATVITFA%5D2.0.CO%3B2
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018212000958?via%3Dihub
Harlan’s ground sloth Paramylodon harlani:
https://biostor.org/reference/214980
https://www.jstor.org/stable/983894?seq=1
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Fossil_Record_6_Volume_2/ZFfPDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=paramylodon+harlani+la+brea&pg=PA481&printsec=frontcover
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/106537#page/1/mode/1up
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379119302318
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10914-017-9415-8
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aar7621
La Brea Woman:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.40.1023.198
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1179/2055557115Y.0000000011
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34211506#page/22/mode/1up
https://meridian.allenpress.com/scasbulletin/article/84/2/76/485913/Domestic-Dog-Associated-with-Human-Remains-at
https://meridian.allenpress.com/scasbulletin/article/88/3/123/485492/A-Note-on-the-Ontogenetic-Age-of-the-Rancho-La
https://www.laalmanac.com/history/hi02v.php
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1201477
0:00 - Intro
1:26 - American Camels
5:36 - Teratornis
9:04 - Dire Wolf
13:35 - Harlan's Ground Sloth
16:42 - La Brea Woman
20:58 - Outro Close description
Subscribe to 7 Days of Science: https://www.youtube.com/@7DaysofScience
Become a Channel Member or support us on Patreon for behind-the-scenes, bloopers, extra adventures and more!
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Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/7daysofscience
Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/jTsGYtRBHZ
Follow us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/1PIEagv
Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bengthomas
Music by Geographer
Subscribe to explore the wonderful life around you!
Social Media:
►Instagram: http://bit.ly/1PIEagv
►TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bengthomas
►Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenGThomas42
►Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BenGThomas
Sources:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982219307869
American camel Camelops hesternus:
https://eartharchives.org/articles/ice-age-camel-bones-found-in-yukon-redraw-species-lineage/index.html
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2015.1020800
https://tarpits.org/stories/las-ancient-camel
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0895981123004066?via%3Dihub
https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.palaeo.2021.110360
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S003101821630394
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1420650112
https://karger.com/bbe/article/98/2/107/842109
Teratornis:
http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/2019/08/we-need-to-talk-about-teratorns.html
https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v100n02/p0390-p0403.pdf
https://tarpits.org/stories/meet-teratorn-largest-bird-found-la-brea-tar-pits
https://tarpits.org/research-collections/tar-pits-collections/bird-collections
Dire Wolf:
https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2014/723-canis-dirus-craniometrics
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724630903413016
http://www.redciencia.cu/geobiblio/paper/2015_LasBreas%20Biotas.pdf#page=29
https://nhm.org/stories/dire-wolf-ice-age-angeleno
https://tarpits.org/stories/our-evolving-understanding-dire-wolves
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03082-x
https://news.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Dire-wolf-ancestry-pre-print.pdf
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022%5B0423%3ATVITFA%5D2.0.CO%3B2
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018212000958?via%3Dihub
Harlan’s ground sloth Paramylodon harlani:
https://biostor.org/reference/214980
https://www.jstor.org/stable/983894?seq=1
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Fossil_Record_6_Volume_2/ZFfPDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=paramylodon+harlani+la+brea&pg=PA481&printsec=frontcover
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/106537#page/1/mode/1up
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379119302318
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10914-017-9415-8
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aar7621
La Brea Woman:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.40.1023.198
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1179/2055557115Y.0000000011
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34211506#page/22/mode/1up
https://meridian.allenpress.com/scasbulletin/article/84/2/76/485913/Domestic-Dog-Associated-with-Human-Remains-at
https://meridian.allenpress.com/scasbulletin/article/88/3/123/485492/A-Note-on-the-Ontogenetic-Age-of-the-Rancho-La
https://www.laalmanac.com/history/hi02v.php
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1201477
0:00 - Intro
1:26 - American Camels
5:36 - Teratornis
9:04 - Dire Wolf
13:35 - Harlan's Ground Sloth
16:42 - La Brea Woman
20:58 - Outro Close description