The not-so-secret Project 23

May 23, 9:29 AMSan Diego Page One ExaminerMichaela Renee

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Animated Wooly Mammoth at La Brea Tar Pits

The movie Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian opened May 22, the premise based on the concept of the creatures of the museum coming alive after the museum closes it’s doors to the public. The movie premiere was actually held at the Smithsonian; it’s the first time the museum ever held a showing of this nature inside it’s doors.

A journey from downtown San Diego to Hollywood takes approximately two hours (excluding traffic of course). But what most people don’t realize is that while Hollywood is known for movies, celebrities and bringing the make-believe come to life via the big screen; on the very edge of Hollywood is Hancock Park which features a tiny jewel known as the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits.

The Tar Pits history stems back to the Ice Age. Between ten and forty thousand years ago Los Angeles was home to colossal wooly mammoths, sloths, saber tooth cats and flat nosed bears.

The natural geography of the land at the time was such that the earth movement allowed heavy oil from the depths of the planet to seep up to the surface of the ground via naturally formed pipes. This heavy oil, known as asphalt, created lakes of tar that during the varying seasons would become deceivingly covered with rain water, or dirt and leaves.

Creatures of the Ice Age roamed what is now known as Hollywood and would find themselves stuck knee deep in the tar, unable to move. Their screams of terror would cause predators to come attack, which would in turn cause an abundance of creatures to become trapped in the tar.

Years and years of animals becoming trapped and sediment settling on top of the dead creatures caused near perfect fossilization of thousands of creatures.

The Rancho La Brea Tar Pits are now home to one of the largest fossil collections in the world. Early excavations recovered over 10,000 mammals, encompassing over six hundred Ice Age species and nearly one million bones were unearthed.

A trip to the Tar Pits is a blast to the past. A seven dollar entrance fee will have you walking through a land before time, surrounded by perfectly preserved Ice Age creatures. Some of the mammals have been recreated and even animated to show how they moved and sounded at that time.

A quick stroll around the museum will drop you off in the middle of Project 23, a real life sneak peak at the palentologists at work on Zed, a thirteen-plus foot Columbian mammoth. Visitors can witness the process of cleaning Zeds enormous tusk and the reconstruction of his pelvis, among other things.

To experience a real life “Night at the Museum” take a quick journey up Interstate 5 to La Brea and stop off at the Tar Pits, seven bucks is cheaper than catching a flick at the theatre, plus it helps keep our history alive.