280 



Adventures in Scenery 



to hungry carnivorous beasts, such as the great cats (lions) and 

 huge short-faced bears, wolves, and other savage flesh-eating 

 animals. 



Courtesy Los Angeles Museum 



FIG. 78. Restored skeleton of Imperial Mammoth (Archidhkodon im- 

 perator, Leidy) . From tar pits of Rancho La Brea. 



The great abundance of skeleton remains of carnivorous 

 animals seems to indicate that these animals hovered around the 

 pools ready to pounce upon even the large mammals and other 

 animals that became mired and therefore helpless. Beds of 

 skeletal remains of both carnivorous and herbivorous animals 

 have been discovered in some pits that seem to indicate that 

 carnivorous animals hovered in numbers around the pools for 

 the purpose of preying upon any animals that became entangled 

 in the morass. 



The animal and plant remains are not petrified, but have 

 been preserved sealed in the asphaltum. The tissues of tree 

 trunks are impregnated with tar, and leaves and seeds are also 

 thus preserved. It has been possible to extract the tar so that 

 the plant tissues can be perfectly restored, and the species of 



