FossilHunter99 Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum and I've seen lots of posts with La Brea Tar Pits material, so I was wondering where can you get those types of fossils? (I know the original La Brea Tar Pits is protected from fossil hunters). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Not sure about real fossils. But there are a lot of good replicas around. Many websites sell replica skulls of Smilodon and such. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 All of mine came from old collections, and about half are from the nearby McKittrick pits. An example: "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 My only tar pit fossil comes from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKittrick_Tar_Pits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediospirifer Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 I have a tarbug from an old collection (bought at a gem & mineral show), and a few pieces of bone (probably bird) that I found in a rock shop. Those are likely from McKittrick. Keep your eyes open--I remember reading as a kid about fossils, and La Brea, and the illegality of collecting there, and thought (with disappointment) that I'd never have the opportunity to get a piece for myself. Imagine my surprise at finding the tarbug (one of three) for sale! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilHunter99 Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 Thanks for the quick answers! I'll keep an eye out for fossil from McKittrick from now on, I mostly like raptor bones and claws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nandomas Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Got 3 or 4 LaBrea bugs during the '90, mostly at fossil shows, not sure which one Erosion... will be my epitaph! http://www.paleonature.org/ https://fossilnews.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilHunter99 Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 The insects look awesome on the pictures! Sure would like to own one some day...Also Auspex what kind of bone is the one in your matrix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 ...Also Auspex what kind of bone is the one in your matrix? It is the proximal portion of an avian femur; I have yet to identify it even to family, as the few potentially diagnostic features remaining are conflicting. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 ... I mostly like raptor bones and claws. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilHunter99 Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 Wow! Nice claw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 There is actual Rancho la Brea material in old collections but much of what has been seen at shows and online in recent years came out of McKittrick and Maricopa (Kern County, CA). People were doing a lot of tar pit digging in the 1970's and 1980's, but because the tar is so gooey (technical term), you can only dig it during the winter months and the winter months are not always that cold in that part of central California. The bones tend to be found in pockets so you could dig all day (and a couple of days after that) and not find anything. Few collectors these days have the patience for that so just about everything you see for sale has been sold before. Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum and I've seen lots of posts with La Brea Tar Pits material, so I was wondering where can you get those types of fossils? (I know the original La Brea Tar Pits is protected from fossil hunters). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leoncio Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 This is a true La Brea fossil characterised by the brown color which only occurs at Rancho La Brea , los Angeles. All other tar pit examples are black.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leoncio Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 (edited) This has been in my family since the mid 1930s.willed to me and kept tightly away because of the nature of the legalities of owning/selling labrea material. Edited February 27, 2016 by Leoncio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leoncio Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 It is extremely rare to see a(actual ) La Brea material come to market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leoncio Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 I have a tarbug from an old collection (bought at a gem & mineral show), and a few pieces of bone (probably bird) that I found in a rock shop. Those are likely from McKittrick. Keep your eyes open--I remember reading as a kid about fossils, and La Brea, and the illegality of collecting there, and thought (with disappointment) that I'd never have the opportunity to get a piece for myself. Imagine my surprise at finding the tarbug (one of three) for sale! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calhounensis Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 This is a true La Brea fossil characterised by the brown color which only occurs at Rancho La Brea , los Angeles. All other tar pit examples are black.. Not necessarily true. I have seen that color from the tar seeps in McKittrick as well. That is usually a description that sellers use to make you think theirs is from the pits in LA. Similar specimens from LA and from Kern County will have very different price tags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calhounensis Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Ebay has also been flooded with tar pit fossils lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 "allcash818" on eBay has a number of specimens up for sale. Claim, its from George Lee collection all La Brea Pits finds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Yes, I have also seen both brown and black tar pit bones from McKittrick but the Maricopa stuff seems more often black. Some sellers sell tar pit anything all as "La Brea" because it's the well-known locality whether they know the source or not. Not necessarily true. I have seen that color from the tar seeps in McKittrick as well. That is usually a description that sellers use to make you think theirs is from the pits in LA. Similar specimens from LA and from Kern County will have very different price tags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Goatlady Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Here's an area you might try. I went to grad school just north of LA in Valencia. I had a pony that I boarded at a stable in the pass between the San Fernando Valley and The Santa Clarita Valley where Valencia is. We were allowed to ride in the hills behind the stable, probably oil company land. There were small, active tar pits alongside the trail. These pits were just a few feet across, covered in gooey, wet tar that smelled just a road paving crew. The stables were on the west side of the I-5 corridor and were accessed off a frontage road. It was very close to where another interstate went off toward the Antelope Valley. I remember the huge bridges and interchange ramps, actually worked on a movie shoot under those bridges. It's probably all covered with shopping malls now but maybe not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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