How can one survive tar pits once trapped? This was probably asked by the only human who was trapped in the great tar pits. He might have got an answer but he didn't have the luck to benefit from the answer. Consequently, his genes ended up in the pits and didn't get passed to later generations.
An animal would struggle but struggling only makes it sink deeper. It would call for help too, just like the baby mammoth calling its mom and getting the mom trapped as well.
We human are different. Suppose it was his lucky day. He called for help and his best friend, pairing with him in the hunting today, rushed to rescue. What must he do first?
He must yell, "Stop! Danger! Don't get anywhere close." He must realize that this was not a situation that more people in the tar pits could help so he must keep his best friend out of the tar pits first. Then what must he do?
He must explain the situation and come up with a rescue plan with his friend. If his friend could reach him on a solid ground, he could be pulled out just like people pulling out rods from a tar pool in Page Museum. More likely, there was no solid ground close to him. Now the rescue must rely on some tools.
His friend happened to have some rope, which was prepared for tying up preys. He managed to free one hand and raised it high. His friend tied a hoop and lassoed the hand. He clinched to the rope with all his might while his friend pulled the rope firmly and steadily. Bit by bit, he was out of the tar pits.
He survived but he was too sticky to hug his friend. So he told his friend that he would pay pack with five buffalo. His friend laughed, "You can just pull me out next time."
They went back to the tribe to tell everyone about the story and the tribe told other tribes nearby. Since then, nobody was ever consumed by the great tar pits. What a triumph!
An intelligent species, like human, differs from other species in the
abilities of judging the situation, communicating effectively, cooperating socially, using tools to extend physical limits, learning from experiences to avoid repetitive mistakes and passing all that, i.e. knowledge, to later generations. Without any of such abilities, we would certainly see much more human remains in the great tar pits.
Friday, January 20, 2012
The Great Tar Pits
I took one week vacation at the end of last year around Los Angels area. It was very nice to leave behind cold New York and enjoy warm southern California. Besides that, the most impressive visit was not to Hollywood, Beverly Hills or Universal Studio, but rather Page Museum. It was a museum where I expected to see fossils of dinosaurs when I first heard of it but I was completely wrong and yet happily surprised.
It's a local museum and by local I mean that all the fossils there were dug out of the area right out side the museum. And how many fossils? Millions of them!
Right through the entrance, there were a few metal rods in a big bucket to test the physical strength of visitors. Everybody would stop by to pull up a rod and nobody could do it with one fast pull. The only way to do it is to pull firmly and steadily to work against the powerful suction at the other end of the rod. What's at the other end? A pool of asphalt, or simply put, tar.
It was big pools of tar that trapped hundreds of thousands of animals from 10,000 years ago to 40,000 years ago! According to the staff, it takes only two inches of tar to immobilize the strongest animal during the age, mammoth. The danger was also under disguise with grass and water on top. One prey was trapped while seeking food and water, drawing predators to feast and later scavengers to clean up, and all of them ended up being trapped. Very often an entire food chain was mercilessly consumed by the powerful tar pits.
There are numerous amazing displays, mammoth mother and baby, sabre toothed tigers (Okay, cats), a wall of hundreds of wolf skulls, various birds and insects ... but no dinosaurs since their extinction was 65 million years ago and that was way before the time of the tar pits.
I couldn't help asking whether any human remains were found. The answer was just one. Our human ancestors were smart enough to understand the danger of tar pits; otherwise, humans would have become extinct just like mammoths and sabre toothed cats.
It's a local museum and by local I mean that all the fossils there were dug out of the area right out side the museum. And how many fossils? Millions of them!
Right through the entrance, there were a few metal rods in a big bucket to test the physical strength of visitors. Everybody would stop by to pull up a rod and nobody could do it with one fast pull. The only way to do it is to pull firmly and steadily to work against the powerful suction at the other end of the rod. What's at the other end? A pool of asphalt, or simply put, tar.
It was big pools of tar that trapped hundreds of thousands of animals from 10,000 years ago to 40,000 years ago! According to the staff, it takes only two inches of tar to immobilize the strongest animal during the age, mammoth. The danger was also under disguise with grass and water on top. One prey was trapped while seeking food and water, drawing predators to feast and later scavengers to clean up, and all of them ended up being trapped. Very often an entire food chain was mercilessly consumed by the powerful tar pits.
There are numerous amazing displays, mammoth mother and baby, sabre toothed tigers (Okay, cats), a wall of hundreds of wolf skulls, various birds and insects ... but no dinosaurs since their extinction was 65 million years ago and that was way before the time of the tar pits.
I couldn't help asking whether any human remains were found. The answer was just one. Our human ancestors were smart enough to understand the danger of tar pits; otherwise, humans would have become extinct just like mammoths and sabre toothed cats.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)