Remains or traces of plants and animals that lived a long time ago.
Dire Wolf
A type of wolf that lived in North America, but went extinct about 10,000 years ago. Its teeth are larger than wolves of today and it ate horses, ground sloths, mastodons, bison, and camels!
An animal that eats plants.
Paleontologist
Plaster of Paris
A huge cat with two long, saber-shaped teeth that it used for hunting. It went extinct about 11,000 years ago and fossils of it are found in places like the La Brea Tar Pits.
Carnivore
Omnivore
Herbivore
A white powder that hardens when mixed with water and allowed to sit. It is used to make sculptures, molds and casts for broken bones.
A small fossil that typically can be studied only with a microscope. It can be a piece of a large plant or animal or small bones of things like lizards and rodents.
La Brea Tar Pits
A fossil dig site located in the middle of Los Angeles. They have found over 1 million fossils there. About 50,000 years ago, many animals were trapped here in a sticky black substance that oozes from cracks in the earth’s surface (asphalt). Animals got stuck and were preserved as fossils.
Fossil
Extinct
An animal that eats both plants and meat.
Microfossil
A scientist that studies fossils.
A living thing that is no longer found alive anywhere on earth today.
Saber-Toothed Cat
An animal that eats meat.