- s 



Restoration of the extinct wolf {Canis dims) by Erwin Ohristman. Asphalt pool in 

 foreground with a bursting gas bubble 



answers with a savage snarl, which we may interpret as a wish, soon to be 

 fulfilled, that the wolf would bear him company in his troubles. 



Such is the little drama that our group sets forth. A realistic story it is 

 — a characteristic incident which must have happened, pretty much as we 

 have told it, again and again during the time — many thousands of years 

 ago — when these tar-springs were active. 



That thousands upon thousands of animals, great and small, perished 

 by this frightful death in the tar-pits of La Brea, is witnessed by their 

 skeletons; that so large a proportion of them were savage beasts of prey 

 may be to some a consolation, although nature accords no higher place or 

 superior morality to the vegetarian over the carnivore. At all events it 

 does not appear that the trap was seen by human eyes in the days of its 

 vigor. No remains of man, tools, weapons, or other indications of his 

 presence have been found associated with the extinct animals. There are 

 various reasons for the belief that man is rather a recent arrival in the New 

 World, and had not reached the Pacific Coast when these animals were 

 perishing in such numbers in the tar-pits. Still he might have witnessed it. 



The fossil skeletons used in preparing this group were presented in ex- 

 change by the University of California, through Professor J. C. Merriam, 

 to whom we are also indebted for most of the evidence upon which their 

 grouping is based, and many helpful suggestions and criticisms. 



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