The Scenario

This scene depicts spring in the Los Angeles Basin about 19,000 years before present. The San Gabriel Mountains, in the background, are still covered with snow. A tributary of the Los Angeles River, in the foreground, often floods high enough in this season to leave a sheet of water on top of the tar-soaked sands on the bottom of the stream, so that when animals come to drink, they get mired in the tar. Predators then attempt to prey on these trapped animals.

A lone Smilodon stalks along the stream searching for prey. The giant ground sloth has noticed the cat and looks on warily. The horses have also noticed and begun to move away. Further in the distance, the mammoths go about their foraging undisturbed because they are too large for the cat to bring down. The dire wolves watch with anticipation, hoping to reap the spoils of the sabertooth's meal.

The Environment

The Ice Age vegetation was somewhat more lush than that found in the Los Angeles Basin today. The larger snowfields in the San Gabriel Mountains supplied moisture to feed more permanent streams and rivers, as well as the pine forests that grew along their steep slopes. Willows, live oaks, and scattered Monterey pines grew along the streams, whereas chaparral covered the low hills and flatlands of the basin. These shrubs provided plenty of cover for predators, as well as plenty of open grassland for herbivores. The climate was more extreme than that found in this area today, with colder winters and cooler summers. Snow caps were present at lower elevations. Most precipitation occurred during the winter, as it does today.