Tag: California
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PBS Eons: The Only Human Found in the La Brea Tar Pits
PBS Eons posted an episode of their podcast to Youtube. It's about the La Brea Tar Pits in Las Angeles, CA. And, the unexpected discovery of a human skeleton in the deposit. While we work on new longform YouTube episodes, we wanted to make the first episode of our podcast available here on YouTube! More…
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PBS Eons: How Plate Tectonics Transformed Los Angeles
PBS Eons has a new episode over on Youtube. This one is about the geology and paleontology of Los Angeles. Despite the profound changes we’ve made here in recent history, the epic saga of Los Angeles' natural history is still visible – and even striking – if you know where and how to look for…
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Fossil Friday #83: Tar Pit Fossils
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #83. Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website. We will post any fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! This week’s stunning contribution comes from long…
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PBS Eons: Life, Sex & Death Among the Dire Wolves
There’s a new episode of PBS’s Eons. It’s about wolves and the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. This is not a Game of Thrones fan fiction episode. Dire wolves were real! And thousands of them died in the same spot in California. Their remains have taught us volumes about how they lived,…
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We Could Be Witnessing the Death of a Tectonic Plate, Says Earth Scientist
Live Science has a story about the tectonic plates along the West Coast of the United States. The plate named Juan de Fuca (pronounced “wahn de fyoo-kuh”), which is about the size of Michigan, has a large tear. The plate is located off the coast of Northern California extending north past Oregon, Washington, up to…
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Giant Sequoia ‘Tunnel Tree’ in California Is Toppled by Storm
The New York Times has a story about an ancient giant sequoia tree that fell in a heavy storm on Sunday. The tree, estimated to be more than 1,000 years old, was referred to as the “Pioneer Cabin Tree”. The base of the tree was carved out in the 1880s, which led to it becoming…
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Saber-tooth Cat Extinction
Vanderbilt University: (hat tip, Dave Carlson, ESCONI Discussion Group) In the period just before they went extinct, the American lions and saber-toothed cats that roamed North America in the late Pleistocene were living well off the fat of the land. That is the conclusion of the latest study of the microscopic wear patterns on the…
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Analyzing Costs of Landslides in California
From LATimes via geology.com: An article in the Los Angeles Times reports that the California Department of Transportation would like to abandon State Highway 39 because landslide and other problems are costing $1.5 million per year to repair. Image from California Department of Conservation site.
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1.4 Million Yr. California Fossil Find
Via AP Yahoo News: RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A utility company preparing to build a new substation in an arid canyon southeast of Los Angeles has stumbled on a trove of animal fossils dating back 1.4 million years that researchers say will fill in blanks in Southern California’s history. The well-preserved cache contains nearly 1,500 bone…
