Popular, fan favorite “La Brea” returns for its second season tomorrow at 9 p.m. on Local 4. It takes place in Los Angeles where a massive sinkhole reveals a hidden world. Not so fictional, the La Brea Tar Pits is one of the most important paleontological sites, and it’s located in Los Angeles.
Emily Lindsey, Assistant Curator, and Excavation Site Director at the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, joined Tati Amare on “Live In The D” to shine a light on the tar pits.
“The La Brea Tar Pits is actually one of the most important paleontological sites on Earth, it just happens to be right in the middle of Las Angeles because the phenomenon that formed the tar pits was the same as one of the major contributing phenomena to the modern development of the city of Las Angeles which is oil,” Lindsey said.
According to Lindsey, oil and earthquakes played a significant role in the formation of the La Brea Tar Pits.
The La Brea Tar Pits museum is known for the iconic lake pit out front.
“Everybody thinks that this lake pit in front of our museum is a tar pit and that the fate you see playing out in this very dramatic, mammoth family sculpture is how tar pits work. You sink in and fundamentally drown in like quicksand…” Lindsey said.
However, the lake pit is actually a 19th century commercial asphalt mine which filled with water and does not resemble an actual tar pit.
“Tar pits are actually much shallower and act a lot more like fly paper, sticking animals and plants in place but not actually drowning them,” said Lindsey.
To learn more, watch the video above.