Rancho La Brea

Rancho La Brea most popularly known for its Ice Age vertebrate fauna. Dire wolves, sabertooth cats, mammoths, and sloths but hey, a bunch of insects got stuck in the asphalt seeps near the center of Los Angeles, California 1000’s of years ago too and we’re digitizing them!

Bottom view of an asphalt-filled beetle abdomen from the Pleistocene
Bottom view of an asphalt-filled tenebrionid beetle abdomen from the Pleistocene Rancho La Brea tar pits.
Top view of an asphalt-filled beetle abdomen from the Pleistocene
Top view of the same tenebrionid beetle abdomen from the Rancho La Brea Tar pits.