Further Information
Brea is Spanish for "tar." The "tar" pits were used as a source of asphalt (for use as low-grade fuel and for waterproofing and insulation) by early settlers of the Los Angeles area. The original Rancho La Brea land grant stipulated that the tar pits be open to the public for the use of the local Pueblo. Initially, they mistook the bones in the pits for the remains of pronghorn antelope or cattle that had become mired.
Rancho La Brea is the most famous, but two other asphalt pits have fossils in southern California: the Carpinteria Tar Pits in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County and the McKittrick Tar Pits in McKittrick, in Kern County. Other asphalt deposits in Texas, Peru, Trinidad, Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and Poland also bear fossils.
For other rich deposits, fossilized where they occurred, see Lagerstätten.
Read more about this topic: La Brea Tar Pits
Famous quotes containing the word information:
“I am the very pattern of a modern Major-Gineral,
I’ve information vegetable, animal, and mineral;
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical,
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical;”
—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)
“If you have any information or evidence regarding the O.J. Simpson case, press 2 now. If you are an expert in fields relating to the O.J. Simpson case and would like to offer your services, press 3 now. If you would like the address where you can send a letter of support to O.J. Simpson, press 1 now. If you are seeking legal representation from the law offices of Robert L. Shapiro, press 4 now.”
—Advertisement. Aired August 8, 1994 by Tom Snyder on TV station CNBC. Chicago Sun Times, p. 11 (July 24, 1994)