0.4" Fossil Tropisternus Sp Beetle Encapsulated In Solidified Tar Pleistocene Age

Location: LaBrea Formation, Kern County, California

Weight: 0.6 Ounces

Dimensions: 1.6 Inches Long, 1.4 Inches Wide, 0.8 Inches Thick (Plate)

Beetle Dimensions: 0.4 Inches Long, 0.2 Inches wide

The item pictured is the one you will receive.

50 million years old, Eocene age

Tropisternus Sp Insect

The La Brea Tar Pits, located in Los Angeles, California, are among the world's most significant paleontological sites, providing an unparalleled record of terrestrial life during the Pleistocene epoch. The site is characterized by natural asphalt seeps that acted as "natural traps" for animals and plants over the last 50,000 to 60,000 years. Unlike many fossil sites where bones are permineralized (turned to stone), the asphalt at Rancho La Brea preserves the original organic material, allowing for detailed geochemical and isotopic analysis of the specimens.

The collection housed at the site is exceptionally diverse, containing millions of fossils ranging from large extinct megafauna—such as the saber-toothed cat (Smilodon fatalis), the dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus), and the Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)—to microscopic insects, plant seeds, and pollen. Because the asphalt acts as a preservative, researchers have been able to reconstruct the paleoenvironment of the Los Angeles Basin with high precision, observing shifts in climate and biodiversity as the region transitioned from the late Pleistocene into the Holocene. The site remains an active research facility, continuously yielding new data on the extinction dynamics of Ice Age mammals and the resilience of local flora and fauna.