Fossils Under Our Feet

“There are fossils all over the place right here in Southern California,” shared Eric Scott, Curator of Paleontology at the San Bernardino County Museum, during a recent seminar. The museum holds numerous events throughout the year that are geared toward families and informing the public of the history of the world around us. A recent holiday weekend was no exception when Eric Scott engaged a crowd of people in a presentation called “Fossils Under Our Feet.” During the presentation, Scott explained that Ice Age Fossils could be found literally right under our feet. People do not need to travel far to dig up species that were alive during the Ice Age. One of the most popular places around currently is the La Brea Tar Pits, where “the Los Angeles County Museum has dug up over three quarters of a million fossils,” Scott shared. Some of the fossils found at the La Brea Tar Pits are being displayed in museums as far as London. “A lot of what we know about the Ice Age has come from the tar pits,” Scott also shared. To this day, there are still a ton of fossils buried all over downtown Los Angeles. Another popular area that is rich with fossils is Diamond Valley Lake. Before it was filled with water, over 200,000 fossils were found in the area, including Northern Californian Lions, Saber Tooth Tigers, and Dire Wolfs. Bison were the most commonly found in the area, and there was also the rare appearance of the Mastodon. Mastodons have not been found in many other places aside from the La Brea Tar Pits and Diamond Valley. The presentation ended with any further questions from the public, then the people explored through the numerous displays provided by the museum. Attendee Lana Stephens shared, “It’s fascinating. I had a good time. I haven’t been here since I was a child.” Numerous other families enjoyed showing their children the different displays and reading the descriptions to them, thus teaching them a little bit more about life and history.