La Brea Tar Pits selected as one of the first 100 geological heritage sites

MIRACLE MILE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The La Brea Tar Pits has been selected as one of the first 100 geological heritage sites by the International Union of Geological Sciences.

IUGS is one of the world's largest scientific organizations representing more than one million geoscientists.

The formal announcement will be made at its meeting next month in Spain.

The organization said the 100 sites "represent key places with geological elements and-or processes of international scientific relevance."

La Brea Tar Pits is reportedly the richest Pleistocene ("Ice Age") fossil site on Earth, according to IUGS.

"Beloved by Angelenos and known for capturing the imagination and inspiring pop culture from the current La Brea TV series to the Ice Age animated films, La Brea Tar Pits is a one-of-a-kind site for scientific research into the past with important data for understanding climate change in our own time," said Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga, President and Director of the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, which oversees La Brea Tar Pits. "This acknowledgement from the international scientific community is recognition of La Brea's gifts to science and the hard work of paleontologists, preparators, and volunteers during its more than 100 years of research and excavation."