Dan Flores

True enough, there's a sense of time-travel shock having your lift drop you in the middle of swirling, honking LA traffic, only to stand face-to-face minutes later with Colombian mammoths fatally mired in tar, trumpeting their despair. Even if the mammoths are robots and their forlorn cries don't drown out the traffic, they and La Brea and the Page Museum still work a kind of magic.

True enough, there's a sense of time-travel shock having your lift drop you in the middle of swirling, honking LA traffic, only to stand face-to-face minutes later with Colombian mammoths fatally mired in tar, trumpeting their despair. Even if the mammoths are robots and their forlorn cries don't drown out the traffic, they and La Brea and the Page Museum still work a kind of magic.

20,000 years drops away if you let it because La Brea preserves tangible remnants of a world at the far ends of the earth for ancestors of ours whose migrations had begun in Africa. The Page Museum is a working laboratory of paleontology where visitors can watch scientists labor over the site's latest discoveries.

20,000 years drops away if you let it because La Brea preserves tangible remnants of a world at the far ends of the earth for ancestors of ours whose migrations had begun in Africa. The Page Museum is a working laboratory of paleontology where visitors can watch scientists labor over the site's latest discoveries.

20,000 years drops away if you let it because La Brea preserves tangible remnants of a world at the far ends of the earth for ancestors of ours whose migrations had begun in Africa. The Page Museum is a working laboratory of paleontology where visitors can watch scientists labor over the site's latest discoveries.

Many of those are the remains of scavenger predators once lured by the cries of snagged mammoths or the scent of decomposing horses, camels, or ground sloths trapped by surface tar near what was once a water source in a dry landscape.

Many of those are the remains of scavenger predators once lured by the cries of snagged mammoths or the scent of decomposing horses, camels, or ground sloths trapped by surface tar near what was once a water source in a dry landscape.

Many of those are the remains of scavenger predators once lured by the cries of snagged mammoths or the scent of decomposing horses, camels, or ground sloths trapped by surface tar near what was once a water source in a dry landscape.

The skulls and tusks of the elephants extracted from La Brea are impressive, but anyone who tours the museum has to admit the most stunning display is the wall, backlit and yellow, of hundreds of dire wolf skulls. The strapping canids, indigenous to America but memorably revived as fictional Westeros fauna in Game of Thrones, left the most remains here of any species, 1,800 individuals.

The skulls and tusks of the elephants extracted from La Brea are impressive, but anyone who tours the museum has to admit the most stunning display is the wall, backlit and yellow, of hundreds of dire wolf skulls. The strapping canids, indigenous to America but memorably revived as fictional Westeros fauna in Game of Thrones, left the most remains here of any species, 1,800 individuals.

The skulls and tusks of the elephants extracted from La Brea are impressive, but anyone who tours the museum has to admit the most stunning display is the wall, backlit and yellow, of hundreds of dire wolf skulls. The strapping canids, indigenous to America but memorably revived as fictional Westeros fauna in Game of Thrones, left the most remains here of any species, 1,800 individuals.

The fossils of hundreds of coyotes, a brawnier version than our modern animal, make up the third most common species here. But in second place are those ultimate ambush predators of the Pleistocene, the western subspecies of saber-tooths, heavily built cats with a fearsome, snake-like jaw gape and enormous fangs.

The fossils of hundreds of coyotes, a brawnier version than our modern animal, make up the third most common species here. But in second place are those ultimate ambush predators of the Pleistocene, the western subspecies of saber-tooths, heavily built cats with a fearsome, snake-like jaw gape and enormous fangs.

The fossils of hundreds of coyotes, a brawnier version than our modern animal, make up the third most common species here. But in second place are those ultimate ambush predators of the Pleistocene, the western subspecies of saber-tooths, heavily built cats with a fearsome, snake-like jaw gape and enormous fangs.

The replica skull of a saber-tooth from La Brea sits a few feet away as I write this. It's rapier-sharp canines capable of tearing open a sloth or mammoth calf gleaming in rich afternoon light. Each fang measures a full eight inches from gumline to tip.

The replica skull of a saber-tooth from La Brea sits a few feet away as I write this. It's rapier-sharp canines capable of tearing open a sloth or mammoth calf gleaming in rich afternoon light. Each fang measures a full eight inches from gumline to tip.

The replica skull of a saber-tooth from La Brea sits a few feet away as I write this. It's rapier-sharp canines capable of tearing open a sloth or mammoth calf gleaming in rich afternoon light. Each fang measures a full eight inches from gumline to tip.

The vast assemblages of hypercarnivore bones at La Brea join the skeletal remains of mega herbivores, mammoths and mastodons, giant bison, pronghorns, llamas, California turkeys, and many more. The predator list is lengthier than just wolves, coyotes, and saber-tooths as well. The cats whose remains have come out of the tar include American cheetahs, step lions, and giant jaguars.

The vast assemblages of hypercarnivore bones at La Brea join the skeletal remains of mega herbivores, mammoths and mastodons, giant bison, pronghorns, llamas, California turkeys, and many more. The predator list is lengthier than just wolves, coyotes, and saber-tooths as well. The cats whose remains have come out of the tar include American cheetahs, step lions, and giant jaguars.

The vast assemblages of hypercarnivore bones at La Brea join the skeletal remains of mega herbivores, mammoths and mastodons, giant bison, pronghorns, llamas, California turkeys, and many more. The predator list is lengthier than just wolves, coyotes, and saber-tooths as well. The cats whose remains have come out of the tar include American cheetahs, step lions, and giant jaguars.