Canis dirus
Late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean)
Rancho La Brea Formation
Maricopa Tar Pits
Kern County, California, USA
Big 140mm x 118mm bird bone matrix with Dire Wolf incisor. Outstanding display from the famous Tar Pits of California.

Bird. Mammal. Canidae. carnivoran. Association.

Sometimes, when a preparator has a large chunk of seemingly solid tar pit matrix to process, it’s a lot easier to soak it in acetone overnight than to try to pick and probe at the surface of it. Soaking a chunk usually softens up just some the tar but sometimes a good amount is dissolved and something cool starts to be revealed.

Here is a fantastic jumble of bones with a dire wolf (Canis dirus) incisor and several bird bones. It’s a great display piece for the collector who wants something unusual from the Pleistocene or from the tar pits in particular.