Excavations

Exhibitions

Ichthyosaur

New Discoveries

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Exhibition | Tar Pits

Fossil Lab

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

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Exhibition | Tar Pits

3D Theater

Travel back in time with Titans of the Ice Age.

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Events

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Wed

24

Apr

Photo of paleontologist excavating fossils

Tar Pits

Excavator Tour

Tours & Shows All Ages

1 pm

The Excavator Tour explores the Fossil Lab where real paleontologists work, our historic excavation sites, and Project 23, where live excavations can be seen. Monday through Friday at 1 pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 am and 1 pm, and an additional holiday tour March 25–29 at 10:30 am. Schedule subject to change.

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Wed

24

Apr

A man holds a saber-toothed cat skull with jaw agape, a father and son observe excitedly

Tar Pits

Discoveries From<br/>the Tar Pits

Talks All Ages

3:30 pm

Drop by to learn some of the lesser known stories of the Tar Pits, including active research and recent discoveries. Topics change daily.

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Thu

25

Apr

Tar Pits

Excavator Tour

Tours & Shows All Ages

1 pm

The Excavator Tour explores the Fossil Lab where real paleontologists work, our historic excavation sites, and Project 23, where live excavations can be seen. Monday through Friday at 1 pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 am and 1 pm, and an additional holiday tour March 25–29 at 10:30 am. Schedule subject to change.

Learn more

Thu

25

Apr

Tar Pits

Discoveries From<br/>the Tar Pits

Talks All Ages

3:30 pm

Drop by to learn some of the lesser known stories of the Tar Pits, including active research and recent discoveries. Topics change daily.

Learn more

Fri

26

Apr

Tar Pits

Excavator Tour

Tours & Shows All Ages

1 pm

The Excavator Tour explores the Fossil Lab where real paleontologists work, our historic excavation sites, and Project 23, where live excavations can be seen. Monday through Friday at 1 pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 am and 1 pm, and an additional holiday tour March 25–29 at 10:30 am. Schedule subject to change.

Learn more

Stories

Launch pad for the Ariane 6 for Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana

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

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 and over 160 international museums, galleries, sculpture parks, gardens, and cultural spaces on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app.

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.

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Recorrido Autoguiado de Saber-toothed Summer

Saber-toothed Summer Self-Guided Tour

Smilodon for the camera and capture some purrfect pics on this selfie scavenger hunt. Discover everything there is to know about the fearsome feline with the killer canines only at La Brea Tar Pits.

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.

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.

Video: Happy Hour with Dr. Aaron Celestian

Join Dr. Aaron Celestian for an exploration of his research suggesting that life can persist in the coldest environments and minerals are critical for life.

News & Press

A Lighthouse in the Gobi Desert

A new study quantifies the impact of the world’s great fossil sites on our understanding of evolutionary relationships between fossil groups and discovers the key to understanding lizard evolutionary history in the Gobi Desert.

The new species is one of the earliest ancestor of modern dolphins yet discovered

Eating bamboo? It's all in the wrist.

An ancient fossil reveals the earliest panda to survive solely on bamboo and the evolutionary history of panda's false thumbs

Earth’s First Giant

The two-meter skull of a humongous new ichthyosaur species, Earth’s first known giant creature, reveals how both the extinct marine reptiles and modern whales became giants