Paleontologists at the Page Museum laboratory use simple and delicate tools.

The hundreds of thousands of people who visit each year get to see the actual scientific discoveries take place. Through the windows at the world famous "fish bowl" laboratory inside the museum, people of all ages can see the scientists clean, examine, restore, and catalogue the fossils that are still being found in the asphalt.

By using tools such as dental picks, toothbrushes, and cotton swabs with the aid of solvents to help soften and dissolve the asphalt, scientists clean and identify the fossils recovered. After the fossils are cataloged, they are moved into storage so that they can be easily found for later examination and study. Through this process, scientists piece together the questions and puzzles that still remain about the last great Ice Age.

		Foot Note! The millions of cataloged bones found at Rancho La Brea take up such a large area that almost the entire perimeter of the George C. Page Museum (except for a few offices) is used as the storage area for the mammal, bird, and plant remains.

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