MAMMOTH RESULTS FROM MICROFOSSILS

Much scientific research has been conducted on large fossil specimens, with tremendous results, but microfossils, i.e., the remains of plants and small animals, also provide information about the past and future of the ecosystems of Los Angeles. The Mouse’s Eye View of the La Brea Tar Pits (LBTP) Food Webs project has helped pave the way for the Community Science aspect of microfossil sorting. The Food Webs project has enabled researchers to reconstruct the story of how climate change and species extinction during and since the Ice Age has affected the biodiversity of modern-day Los Angeles. This project also aims to understand how deep-time records of the past can help researchers predict future ecosystems. As an educational community contribution, LBTP began collaborating with local teachers to attend a hands-on training workshop, to be able to incorporate LBTP microfossil sorting into their classroom curriculum.

Students were supplied with kits created by the LBTP Research and Collections department, to sort microfossils from several pre-LGM LBTP deposits in their classrooms with guidance from their teachers who attended a one-day workshop on-site. Since 2018, more than 1400 students contributed, by sorting matrix into distinct categories: plant, bone, shell, and other. Assessment for this activity included student comment cards that were provided for them in their kit. The majority of students enjoyed working with real fossil specimens. We found that microfossil sorting yielded more accurate results from junior high and high school students, as opposed to elementary-aged students. This project also gave us the opportunity to consider the quantity of research-ready microfossils excavated at LBTP and the collections space they require. In this presentation we will present our findings and the lessons we’ve learned from several years of collaborating with students and teachers. Rancho La Brea (RLB) microfossils produce a vast amount of information from the fossiliferous matrix providing a greater perspective on research needs, collections storage and space, and education-based outreach opportunities. Microfossil sorting at LBTP is an integral part of research and collections management that continues to provide insight into today’s most pressing issues using some of the past’s smallest clues.