Photo of paleontologist excavating fossils

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Excavations

Exhibitions

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

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.

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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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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.

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News & Press

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 on earth