Leaves and grass blew across the tar, forming a thin top layer identical to the surrounding ground. Unsuspecting animals grazed right out into the stuff. The tar quickly trapped them; their frantic struggles only engulfed them deeper and deeper. Their frenzied cries attracted carnivores, including the saber-toothed cat, which pounced on the helpless victims, only to find itself trapped by the same tar.

In all, researchers have identified more than 420 species of animals and about 140 species of plants.

Giant mammals ruled the Pleistocene. Imperial mammoths, largest of the elephant tribe, stood 4.5 meters tall and weighed around 6,800 kg. Ground sloths the size of a rhinoceros ambled from tree to tree. Huge camels and bison grazed on the plains. A lion the size of a grizzly bear.

Dire wolves were just that - dire: About the siz

Contrary to popular belief, the "tar" that trapped the animals is not tar at all, but asphalt.

Fossils are evidence of past life. They are formed in many ways. After a plant or animal dies, its soft tissues usually decay or are eaten. Most fossils are formed when the hard parts are protected from decay by natural burial soon after the organism dies. For this reason, most fossils are found in sediments that were laid down by water - either ancient rivers, lakes, or oceans.

The two long, slashing fangs protruding from its upper jaw gave the saber-toothed cat its name. (The giant ground sloth had a special pair of bones wrapping its neck as protection from the long fangs.) Sometimes loosely called the saber-toothed tiger, these big predators actually belonged to a separate sub-family of the Felidae, called the Machairodontidae, now completely extinct.

Life in Los Angeles was somewhat cooler and moister 40,000 years ago than it is today, as we can tell by examining the plant fossils from La Brea. Many of the plants and animals found in La Brea are identical or almost identical with species that still live in the area -- or that would be living in the area had Los Angeles not gotten in the way. Yet a number of the large animal species found at La Brea are no longer found in North America: native horses, camels, mammoths and mastodons, longhorned bison, and sabre-toothed cats.

This exposed deposit contains bones of many different types of animals. After all the bones from this deposit were carefully excavated, they were cleaned and taken to the Museum for study. Some excavated bones are reassembled into skeletons for display.

Some common words found in the essay are:
La Brea, Pleistocene Imperial, North America, History Layers, Los Angeles, Rodeo Drive, Pits Summer's, History Leaves, America Rancholabrean, Ice Ages, la brea, tar pits, rancho la, rancho la brea, los angeles, plants animals, north america, fossils found, rancholabrean stage, plants animals trapped, brea tar, tar asphalt, found la brea, brea tar pits, la brea tar,
Approximate Word count = 1677
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)