Reconstruction of Spea labreae, sp. nov. (dark spadefoots, center and right) in La Brea Tar Pits compared with Spea hammondii (light spadefoot, left), the species currently present in the area, and the Mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynidae, bottom). - Arturo Dávalos
In the heart of urban Los Angeles lie the La Brea Tar Pits, a group of natural asphalt seeps made famous by the millions of ice age fossils preserved within the bubbling, dark pools of goo.
Excavations of the pits have yielded bones of species that once roamed the area tens of thousands of years ago, including giant mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed tigers and dire wolves.
An almost complete sacro-urostyle of a possibly juvenile Spea labrae. - Courtesy La Brea Tar Pits
But large mammals aren't the only window into history that the asphalt has provided. Now, scientists have discovered the first extinct ice age amphibian from Los Angeles, a spadefoot toad named after the tar pits: Spea labreae. The findings are reported in a study published Wednesday in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
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