Meet Your Fossil Fuels . . .

Contrary to popular belief, we in SoCal are in possession of a treasure trove of historic wonders. Actually, that should be pre-historic, as in fossils---and yep, back in the early years of the 20th Century, our neighborhood was a sea of oil fields pumping out the liquefied remains of numerous giant critters to power our vehicles. Most of the fields have been tapped out by now, but thanks to our good friends at Rancho La Brea, there are still plenty of surviving examples of gas-on-the-hoof for us to ponder.

Today’s fossil fuel, the Imperial Mammoth (mammathus imperator), was the largest of the genus mammathus that roamed the American West and Canada until some 10,000 years ago. No one is exactly sure why these beasts became extinct, though it’s been speculated that the receding polar ice cap may have altered its habitat to the point where it could no longer adapt to a warmer and wetter environment; human hunting may have had an effect as well. Unlike its more famous cousin, the Woolly Mammoth, the Cali critters are not believed to have been shaggy but closer to modern elephants in appearance. These big boys grew to a height of 16 feet, with tusks as long as 11 feet having been unearthed. Weight? On average, between 12,000 to 16,000 pounds, though some big honkin’ alpha-males may have tipped the scales at 20K or higher. Heck, that’s a lotta meat to feed a family of Neanderthals---or about 2,500 gallons of 87-octane around here, which equals 50,000 miles if your rig runs 20 mpg. Bag a couple more of these puppies, and trips to the gas station are a distant memory.