California blog series, part III: La Brea Tar Pits
Although I did manage to gain 10 lbs. in 10 days while away,I still don't hold a candle to this Colombian mammoth
(well, at least not if he had skin and muscle and all that jazz)
While our Los Angeles trip wasn't especially steeped in culture, the stop at the Tar Pits was very interesting. I'll have to hunt down one of the photos I took. It's so ridiculously surreal to see this lake of bubbling tar in the midst of the downtown. I felt like looking around and asking, "Yo, is anyone else seeing this?" Anyway, a very cool afternoon even though our search for an uber-neat, somewhat famous hot dog stand proved fruitless. Mostly, I was proud of the fact we navigated from Huntington Beach via four different expressways without a wrong turn. Anyway, here's what I wrote at the time:
It’s unreal how the pits themselves continue to exist right in the middle of the city. Surrounded by businesses and residences, the tar remains. And from them comes a vast collection of over 650 species – it’s ridiculous. I think, for me, the most striking thing about the tar pits was the size of the skeletons. When I think of a sloth, I envision something moderately bigger than a beagle. When I saw the ground sloth, it had to be more than 7 feet tall. Throughout the museum, the common trend seemed simply to be size. Every sign read, “Much like [insert modern-day ancestor here] except larger.” And thus, I can’t help but wonder what will go on in the evolution of animal species in the future, if humanity can avoid imploding the planet in the next century. Will animals continue to get smaller? Is it because of their speed or their smarts that these animals survive? Why must brawn and brain be connected by an inverse relationship? For me, the tar pits raised at least as many questions as they answered but, given my naturally curious demeanour, that is neither surprising, nor problematic.
posted by Mike @ 4:51 p.m.
1 comments
1 Comments:
With my credentials of having watched numerous nature documentaries, I can say that it's unlikely that animals will continue to get smaller unless the planet undergoes a significant cooling trend. Given the current pattern of global warming that doesn't look like happening for at least a little while.
Apparently, most of the massive prehistoric creatures got big because of the high temperatures and volcanic activity of the earth way back when. Volcanic ash makes the soil extremely fertile and the heat made plants grow like crazy, creating huge sources of food at the bottom of the food chain that big-upped animals all the way up.
As Emilie would tell you, there even used to be a giant beaver.
Brandon
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