Scientists at the tar pits discovered that many of smaller animals they extracted from the pits still exist around los angeles today. But many larger mammals such as woolly mammoths and saber toothed tigers are now extinct. Why do you think this is the case? What can scientists learn about Los angeles' climate history by studying the specimens found in these tar pits?

Question

Biology

Damien Copeland

9 January, 01:33

Scientists at the tar pits discovered that many of smaller animals they extracted from the pits still exist around los angeles today. But many larger mammals such as woolly mammoths and saber toothed tigers are now extinct. Why do you think this is the case? What can scientists learn about Los angeles' climate history by studying the specimens found in these tar pits?

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Daniella Weaver · Answer 1

The Tarpits of Los Angeles is famous for the fossils found there which are of very large animals like mammoths, the sabre-toothed tigers as well as small animals.

The fossils found in the tar pits show the relationship between climate change and the evolution of the organisms living in the Ice age.

The last ice age ended 11,000 years ago which is one of the major factors for the extinction of the large-sized animals. The large-sized animals have a high volume to surface area ratio which allowed more heat absorption and retention but with the end of the ice age, due to more heat and large size, these animals became extinct. The smaller animals survived there and evolved later.