The Los Angeles Basin 281 



plants thus determined. Plants and trees of species now liv- 

 ing, and of species that are no longer living upon the earth have 

 been recovered. 



Rancbo La Brea Donated to the Public 



It is well that Rancho La Brea has been donated to public 

 use. The oil pools furnish a notable example of the preserva- 

 tion of species of plants and animals of a period of geologic time 

 (Pleistocene). It is unique in the world as a locality of its 

 kind. At no other single place in the world has so great a 

 number of fossil relics been recovered. The Park, embracing 

 32 acres, is preserved and protected as Nature left it. In the 

 Los Angeles Museum, and in other museums, are housed the 

 restored skeletons and many relics. As further explorations are 

 made the collection of pre-historic fossils it is expected will be 

 added to, and our knowledge of the life of the past thereby 

 increased. 



The peculiar character of the material in which the fossil 

 remains have been entombed at Rancho La Brea, a heavy oil, a 

 soft tar, or granulated asphaltum, have probably contributed 

 largely to the preservation of the animal and plant remains. 

 The great accumulation of fossil remains is remarkable. Skulls 

 and fragments of skeletons of mammals and birds, and indeed 

 of reptiles and insects, as also frequently of trees, seeds, and 

 leaves, have frequently been found in thickly matted accumu- 

 lations. Dr. John C. Merriam states that in a mass of less than 

 four cubic yards there were counted more than 50 heads of the 

 dire wolf, 30 skulls of the sabre- tooth cat, and many remains 

 of bison, horse, sloth, coyote, and birds, and even of reptiles, 

 amphibia, and insects. 



Many Predatory Animals Trapped 



A census of mammals from the Rancho La Brea indicates 

 that 90% belong to the group of predatory animals. A similar 

 preponderance of predatory birds of prey is shown among the 



