Editing Tar pit (section)

==Fossils==
Tar pits are characteristic of their many fossils. This is the case because the thick, sticky asphalt traps animals.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|title=Fossils - Window to the past|url=https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/paleo/fossilsarchive/waxasp.html|access-date=2021-04-26|website=ucmp.berkeley.edu}}</ref>  Once animals step into the tar, they become immobilized and begin sinking immediately if the asphalt is warm and sticky enough. Predators that see these helpless animals usually would advance into the tar pits with the hope of catching their next meal. As a result, prey are usually found beneath the predator during excavation projects.<ref name=":12" />

The bones and hard parts of the animals are well preserved because they are buried rapidly after the organism's death. Beneath the surface, the hard parts are engulfed with asphalt, and they are protected from climate variations like rain, wind, or snow that may accelerate weathering processes. Asphalt also lacks oxygen and water, so major decomposing organisms like aerobic [[fungi]] and bacteria are absent.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

In the La Brea Tar Pits, more than one million bones have been recovered since 1906. 231 vertebrate species, 234 invertebrate species, and 159 plant species have been identified.<ref name=":13"/> The most frequent large mammal found in the La Brea Tar Pits is the [[dire wolf]], one of the most famous prehistoric carnivores that lived during the [[Pleistocene]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dire Wolf|url=https://igws.indiana.edu/FossilsAndTime/DireWolf|access-date=2021-04-26|website=igws.indiana.edu|language=en}}</ref> Fossils from [[saber-toothed cat]]s and [[coyote]]s were also abundant.<ref name=":13" /> Additional fossils are constantly being discovered through continued excavation projects.<ref name=":13" />