You might be surprised by how many fossils are from the La Brea Tar Pits

"The La Brea Tar Pits are a group of natural asphalt pools in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles. In the middle of the nation's second-largest city, millions of fossils of animals that were trapped in the pits have been found. On Oct. 6, 1875, professor William Denton of The Boston Society of Natural History published the first scientific description of bones he had found in the La Brea Tar Pits."

"The museum might be best known for its extensive holdings of carnivores, of which dire wolves (Canis dirus), saber-toothed cats (Smilodon fatalis) and coyotes (Canis latrans) predominate among the 60-plus species of mammals. Asphalt is a superb preservative that protects small and delicate fossils, such as hollow bird bones. As a result, the collection of fossil birds is one of the world's largest."

The La Brea Tar Pits are natural asphalt pools in Los Angeles that have trapped and preserved millions of fossils from the late Pleistocene, about 10,000–50,000 years ago. The first scientific bone description was published in 1875; intensive examinations began in 1912, and 30 mammoths were found in 1914. The museum houses more than 3.5 million fossils representing 650 species. Carnivores such as dire wolves, saber-toothed cats, and coyotes dominate the mammal record. Asphalt preserves small, delicate remains, producing one of the world’s largest fossil bird collections. Recent excavations emphasize smaller fossils and DNA analyses of dire wolf bones.

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