fossil preparators excavation pit 91 la brea tar pits

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Discoveries

Exhibitions

Pressure: James Cameron Into the Abyss

Explore the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER
Dec 12, 2022–Feb 20, 2023
 

Scanning Electron Microscope Lab

See how big discoveries can come from the tiniest things in the Gem and Mineral Hall.

Exhibition | NHM
Dinosaur Hall

Step Into Our Award-winning Exhibition, and Enter the Age of Dinosaurs

Exhibition | LBTP
Fossil Lab

What happens after the fossils at La Brea Tar Pits are excavated? This is where you find out.

Exhibition | LBTP
3D Theater

Travel back in time with Titans of the Ice Age.

LBTP
Tours & Activities Kids & Family Adults

Excavator Tour

The Excavator Tour explores the Fossil Lab where real paleontologists work, our historic excavation sites, and Project 23, where live excavations can be seen.

weekly

  • 10:30 am
  • 1:00 pm

Monday through Friday at 1 pm; Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 am and 1 pm.

LBTP
Tours & Activities

Discoveries From the Tar Pits

Join a Museum Educator to hear about exciting discoveries from the Tar Pits! These are short presentations highlighting lesser known stories followed by a Q&A opportunity. Topics are always changing.

daily

  • 3:30 pm
LBTP
Tours & Activities Kids & Family Adults

Excavator Tour

The Excavator Tour explores the Fossil Lab where real paleontologists work, our historic excavation sites, and Project 23, where live excavations can be seen.

weekly

  • 10:30 am
  • 1:00 pm

Monday through Friday at 1 pm; Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 am and 1 pm.

LBTP
Tours & Activities

Discoveries From the Tar Pits

Join a Museum Educator to hear about exciting discoveries from the Tar Pits! These are short presentations highlighting lesser known stories followed by a Q&A opportunity. Topics are always changing.

daily

  • 3:30 pm
LBTP
Tours & Activities Kids & Family Adults

Excavator Tour

The Excavator Tour explores the Fossil Lab where real paleontologists work, our historic excavation sites, and Project 23, where live excavations can be seen.

weekly

  • 1:00 pm

Monday through Friday at 1 pm; Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 am and 1 pm.

Discover more

Happy Hour: Getting Really Small with Dr. Jody Martin

Join Dr. Jody Martin on a tour of "the very very small" - from tiny marine invertebrates to the heads of insects to snowflakes and pollen grains and more - to learn about the Museum's brand new electron microscope and how it will be used in research, education, and exhibits!

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Video: Happy Hour - Collections Going Global with Dr. Trina Roberts

In Dr. Trina Roberts', Assoc. VP of Collections, presentation Collections Going Global, you'll hear about some of the ways the vast collection supports research and what NHMLAC is doing to share it worldwide, and how digital info is enhancing our reach and the role the museums play in global research.

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NHMLAC Discovery Talk: L.A.'s Ice Age Animals

Join Connie Clark, La Brea Tar Pits Preparator, as she explores the La Brea Tar Pits Museum Fossil Lab’s work to improve fossil preparation practices, recent finds in Project 23, and why animals found around L.A. today might be rarer in the Tar Pits fossil record.

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Video: Happy Hour - Dawn of the Dinosaurs with Dr. Nate Smith

In Dr. Nate Smith's presentation, Dawn of the Dinosaurs, he will guide us through the recent NHMLAC expeditions at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico.

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NHMLAC Discovery Talk: New Cloud Forest Species

Join Dr. Adam Clause, Postdoctoral Fellow, as he shares his extraordinary discovery of a new species of lizard living in the lush mountaintop forests of southern Mexico.

Read more

News & Press

Ancient Crocodile-Like Predators Ruled the Islands of the Caribbean

A new study finds that land-dwelling crocodile-like sebecids were the apex predators of the West Indies, surviving on the islands after vanishing from South America

City Nature Challenge Marks 10 Years of Bringing the World Together to Study Biodiversity

Organized by the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, the community science initiative has grown from two cities to nearly 700 worldwide

La Brea Tar Pits Researchers Identify a Mysterious Fossil Seed to Reveal New Chapters in L.A.’s Climate History

Through advanced microscopy and imaging techniques, La Brea Tar Pits scientists successfully identify a previously unknown species to Southern California from fossilized seeds, revealing a drought-fueled dance between two species of juniper with lessons for the region’s climate future

New Bird Species from the Age of Dinosaurs Fills in the Gaps of Bird Brain Evolution

The exceptionally rare fossil skull of a new bird species from the Age of Dinosaurs reveals that avian skulls achieved their recognizably modern shape using archaic structures—an unexpected but stunning example of parallel evolution—while also unearthing a missing link in the long evolutionary history of the bird brain.