1.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits, LACMA is the largest art museum in the western United States. It attracts nearly a million visitors annually and it holds more than 150,000 works spanning the history of art from ancient times to the present. In addition to art exhibits, the museum features film and concert series, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art was established as a museum in 1961. Prior to this, LACMA was part of the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art, howard F. Ahmanson, Sr. Anna Bing Arnold and Bart Lytton were the first principal patrons of the museum. Ahmanson made the donation of $2 million, convincing the museum board that sufficient funds could be raised to establish the new museum. In 1965 the museum moved to a new Wilshire Boulevard complex as an independent, art-focused institution, the largest new museum to be built in the United States after the National Gallery of Art. The museum, built in a similar to Lincoln Center. The board selected LA architect William Pereira over the recommendation of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for the buildings. According to a 1965 Los Angeles Times story, the total cost of the three buildings was $11.5 million, at the time, the Los Angeles Music Center and LACMA were concurrent large civic projects which vied for attention and donors in Los Angeles. When the museum opened, the buildings were surrounded by reflecting pools, in the far-reaching expansion, museum-goers henceforth entered through the new partially roofed central court, nearly an acre of space bounded by the museums four buildings. The museums Pavilion for Japanese Art, designed by maverick architect Bruce Goff, opened in 1988, gerald Cantor Sculpture Garden of Rodin bronzes. In 1999, the Hancock Park Improvement Project was complete, kohlhaas edged out French architect Jean Nouvel, who would have added a major building while renovating the older facilities. The list of candidates had narrowed to five in May 2001, Koolhaas, Nouvel, Steven Holl, Daniel Libeskind. However, the project stalled after the museum failed to secure funding. In 2004 LACMAs Board of Trustees unanimously approved plans to transform the museum, the planned transformation consisted of three phases. Phase I started in 2004 and was completed in February 2008, the renovations required demolishing the parking structure on Ogden Avenue and with it LACMA-commissioned graffiti art by street artists Margaret Kilgallen and Barry McGee. The entry pavilion is a key point in architect Renzo Pianos plan to unify LACMAs sprawling, the BP Grand Entrance and the adjacent Broad Contemporary Art Museum comprise the $191 million first phase of the three-part expansion and renovation campaign
2.
Urban park
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The design, operation and maintenance is usually done by government, typically on the local level, but may occasionally be contracted out to a private sector company. A park is an area of space provided for recreational use. Grass is typically kept short to discourage insect pests and to allow for the enjoyment of picnics, trees are chosen for their beauty and to provide shade. An early purpose-built public park, although financed privately, was Princes Park in the Liverpool suburb of Toxteth and this was laid out to the designs of Joseph Paxton from 1842 and opened in 1843. The land on which the park was built was purchased by Richard Vaughan Yates, the creation of Princes Park showed great foresight and introduced a number of highly influential ideas. First and foremost was the provision of space for the benefit of townspeople. Nashs remodelling of St Jamess Park from 1827 and the sequence of processional routes he created to link The Mall with Regents Park completely transformed the appearance of Londons West End. Liverpool had a presence on the scene of global maritime trade before 1800. The latter was commenced in 1843 with the help of public finance, frederick Law Olmsted visited Birkenhead Park in 1850 and praised its qualities. Indeed, Paxton is widely credited as having one of the principal influences on Olmsted. Another early public park is the Peel Park, Salford, England opened on 22 August 1846, in The Politics of Park Design, A History of Urban Parks in America, Professor Galen Cranz identifies four phases of park design in the U. S. As time passed and the area grew around the parks, land in these parks was used for other purposes, such as zoos, golf courses. These parks continue to draw visitors from around the region and are considered regional parks, because they require a higher level of management than smaller local parks. According to the Trust for Public Land, the three most visited parks in the United States are Central Park in New York, Lincoln Park in Chicago. In the early 1900s, according to Cranz, U. S. cities built neighborhood parks with swimming pools, playgrounds and civic buildings and these smaller parks were built in residential neighborhoods, and tried to serve all residents with programs for seniors, adults, teens and children. Green space was of secondary importance, as urban land prices climbed, new urban parks in the 1960s and after have been mainly pocket parks. One such example of a park is Chess Park in Glendale. This award-winning park was given an award by the American Society of Landscape Architects and these small parks provide greenery, a place to sit outdoors, and often a playground for children
3.
California Historical Landmark
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California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below, The first, last, only, associated with an individual or group having a profound influence on the history of California. California Historical Landmarks of #770 and above are listed in the California Register of Historical Resources. By contrast, a site, building, feature, or event that is of local significance may be designated as a California Point of Historical Interest. List of California Historical Landmarks by county National Historic Sites National Register of Historic Places listings in California — with links to list articles by county, los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments San Francisco Designated Landmarks Johnson, Marael. A Guide to California Roadside Historical Markers, official OHP—California Office of Historic Preservation website OHP, California Historical Sites searchpage — links to lists by county
4.
La Brea Tar Pits
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The La Brea Tar Pits are a group of tar pits around which Hancock Park was formed in urban Los Angeles. Natural asphalt has seeped up from the ground in this area for tens of thousands of years, the tar is often covered with dust, leaves, or water. Over many centuries, the bones of animals that were trapped in the tar were preserved, Page Museum is dedicated to researching the tar pits and displaying specimens from the animals that died there. The La Brea Tar Pits is a registered National Natural Landmark, the modern name is an example of a tautological place name, the La Brea Tar Pits literally means the the tar tar pits. The tar pits visible today are actually from human excavation, the lake pit was originally an asphalt mine. The other pits visible today were produced between 1913 and 1915, when over 100 pits were excavated in search of large mammal bones, various combinations of asphaltum and waggler have since filled in these holes. Normally, the asphalt appears in vents, hardening as it oozes out and these can be seen in several areas of the park. Tar pits are composed of heavy oil fractions called gilsonite, which seeped from the Earth as oil, in Hancock Park, crude oil seeps up along the 6th Street Fault from the Salt Lake Oil Field, which underlies much of the Fairfax District north of the park. The oil reaches the surface and forms pools at several locations in the park and this seepage has been happening for tens of thousands of years. From time to time, the asphalt would form a thick enough to trap animals. Animals would wander in, become trapped, and eventually die, predators would enter to eat the trapped animals and also become stuck. As the bones of dead animals sink into the asphalt, it soaks into them, lighter fractions of petroleum evaporate from the asphalt, leaving a more solid substance, which encases the bones. Examples of some of these are on display in the George C, radiometric dating of preserved wood and bones has given an age of 38,000 years for the oldest known material from the La Brea seeps. The pits still ensnare organisms today, so most of the pits are fenced to protect humans, the Native American Chumash and Tongva people living in the area built boats unlike any others in North America prior to contact by settlers. This innovative form of transportation allowed access up and down the coastline, the Portolá expedition, a group of Spanish explorers led by Gaspar de Portolá, made the first written record of the tar pits in 1769. The scouts reported that they had come across many of these springs and had seen large swamps of them, enough, they said, to caulk many vessels. We were not so lucky ourselves as to see these tar geysers, much though we wished it, as it was some distance out of the way we were to take and we christened them Los Volcanes de Brea. The original Rancho La Brea land grant stipulated that the tar pits be open to the public for the use of the local Pueblo, initially, they mistook the bones in the pits for the remains of pronghorn antelope or cattle that had become mired
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Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
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This large collection is comprised not only of specimens for exhibition, but also of vast research collections housed on and offsite. The three museums work together to achieve their mission, to inspire wonder, discovery. NHM opened in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, United States in 1913 as the Museum of History, Science, the moving force behind it was a museum association founded in 1910. Its distinctive main building, with fitted marble walls and domed and colonnaded rotunda, is on the National Register of Historic Places, additional wings opened in 1925,1930,1960, and 1976. The museum was divided in 1961 into the Los Angeles County Museum of History and Science, LACMA moved to new quarters on Wilshire Boulevard in 1965, and the Museum of History and Science was renamed the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Eventually, the museum renamed itself again, becoming the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, in 2003, the museum began a campaign to transform its exhibits and visitor experience. The museum reopened its seismically retrofitted renovated 1913 rotunda, along with the new Age of Mammals exhibition and its Dinosaur Hall opened in July 2011. A new Los Angeles history exhibition, Becoming Los Angeles, opened in 2013, the outdoor Nature Gardens and Nature Lab, which explore L. A. wildlife, also opened in 2013. The museum has almost 30 million specimens representing marine zoology, the museums collection of historical documents is held in the Seaver Center for Western History Research. The Museum hosts regular exhibitions which augment its collections and advance its mission. Recent special exhibits have included Mummies and Pterosaurs, the museum also hosts a butterfly pavilion outside every spring and summer and a spider pavilion on the same site in the fall. Over the years, the museum has built additions onto its original building, originally dedicated when the Natural History Museum opened its doors in 1913, the Rotunda is one of the Museums most elegant and popular spaces. This hall is among the most distinctive locales in Los Angeles and has often used as a filming location. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County official website William S. Hart Ranch, page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits Review of the Museums new Dinosaur Hall at the New York Times, July 19,2011 Slide show of exhibit
6.
Mid-century modern
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Though the American component was slightly more organic in form and less formal than the International Style, it is more firmly related to it than any other. Brazilian and Scandinavian architects were influential at this time, with a style characterized by clean simplicity. Like many of Wrights designs, Mid-Century architecture was frequently employed in structures with the goal of bringing modernism into Americas post-war suburbs. This style emphasized creating structures with ample windows and open floor plans, with the intention of opening up interior spaces, many Mid-century houses utilized then-groundbreaking post and beam architectural design that eliminated bulky support walls in favor of walls seemingly made of glass. Function was as important as form in Mid-Century designs, with an emphasis placed specifically on targeting the needs of the average American family. George Fred Keck, his brother Willam Keck, Henry P. Glass, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the city of Palm Springs, California is noted for its many examples of Mid-century modern architecture. Robinson House, Ambassador and Mrs. Walter H. Annenberg House William Krisel - Ocotillo Lodge, john Black Lee, Specialized in residential houses. M. Home developer, Alexander Homes, popularized this post-and-beam architectural style in the Coachella Valley, Alexander houses and similar homes feature low-pitched roofs, wide eaves, open-beamed ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows. E. Restoration projects have undertaken to return many of these residences and businesses to their original condition. Scandinavian design was influential at this time, with a style characterized by simplicity, democratic design. Glassware, ceramics, tableware, lighting, and furniture were some of the genres for the products created, on the West Coast of America the industrial designer and potter Edith Heath founded Heath Ceramics in 1948. The company was one of the originally numerous California pottery manufacturers that had their heyday in post-war USA, Edith Heaths Coupe line remains in demand and has been in constant production since 1948, with only periodic changes to the texture and color of the glazes. Printed ephemera documenting the mid-century transformations in urban development, architecture and they consisted primarily of national view-cards of North American cities, towns, buildings, monuments and civil and military infrastructures. Mid-century Linen Type postcards came about through innovations pioneered through the use of offset lithography, the cards were produced on paper with a high rag content, which gave the postcard a fabric type look and feel. At the time this was an expensive process. Along with advances in printing technique, Linen Type cards allowed for very vibrant ink colors, curt Teich in Chicago was the most prominent and largest printer and publisher of Linen Type postcards pioneering lithography with his Art Colortone process. The printing of mid-century Linen Type postcards began to give way in the late 1950s to Kodachrome and Ektachrome type glossy color prints, butterfly roof Case Study Houses Danish modern Dingbat Miami Modern Architecture Modern architecture Modernism Populuxe Greensberg, Cara. Mid-Century Modern, Furniture of the 1950s, lAs Early Moderns, Art, Architecture, Photography
7.
Columbian mammoth
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The Columbian mammoth is an extinct species of mammoth that inhabited North America as far north as the northern United States and as far south as Costa Rica during the Pleistocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, the Columbian mammoth evolved from the steppe mammoth, which entered North America from Asia about 1.5 million years ago. The pygmy mammoths of the Channel Islands of California evolved from Columbian mammoths, the closest extant relative of the Columbian and other mammoths is the Asian elephant. Reaching 4 m at the shoulders and 10 tonnes in weight and it had long, curved tusks and four molars, which were replaced six times during the lifetime of an individual. It most likely used its tusks and trunk like modern elephants—for manipulating objects, fighting, bones, hair, dung and stomach contents have been discovered, but no preserved carcasses are known. The Columbian mammoth preferred open areas, such as landscapes, and fed on sedge, grass. It did not live in the Arctic regions of Canada, which were inhabited by woolly mammoths. The ranges of the two species may have overlapped, and genetic evidence suggests that they interbred, Columbian mammoth remains have been found in association with Clovis culture artifacts, these remains may have stemmed either from hunting or from scavenging. The Columbian mammoth disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene around 11,500 years ago, most likely as a result of loss caused by climate change, hunting by humans. The Columbian mammoth was first scientifically described in 1857 by Scottish naturalist Hugh Falconer, at the time, similar fossils from across North America were attributed to woolly mammoths. Falconer found that his specimens were distinct, confirming his conclusion by examining their internal structure, in the early 20th century, the taxonomy of extinct elephants became increasingly complicated. Osborn also retained names for many regional and intermediate subspecies or varieties, the idea that species such as M. imperator and M. jeffersoni were either more primitive or advanced stages in Columbian mammoth evolution was largely dismissed, and they were regarded as synonyms. In spite of these conclusions, Agenbroad cautioned that American mammoth taxonomy is not yet fully resolved, the earliest known members of Proboscidea, the clade that contains the elephants, existed about 55 million years ago around the Tethys Sea area. The closest living relatives of the Proboscidea are the sirenians and the hyraxes, the family Elephantidae existed six million years ago in Africa, and includes the living elephants and the mammoths. Among many now extinct clades, the mastodon is only a distant relative, and part of the distinct family Mammutidae, the Asian elephant is the closest extant relative of the mammoths. The crowns of the teeth became deeper in height and the skulls became taller to accommodate this, at the same time, the skulls became shorter from front to back to minimise the weight of the head. The short, tall skulls of woolly and Columbian mammoths are the culmination of this process, the first known members of the genus Mammuthus are the African species M. subplanifrons from the Pliocene, and M. africanavus from the Pleistocene. The former is thought to be the ancestor of later forms, mammoths entered Europe around 3 million years ago
8.
Habitat
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A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant, or other type of organism. The term typically refers to the zone in which the organism lives and it is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population. Every organism has certain habitat needs for the conditions in which it will thrive, habitat types include polar, temperate, subtropical and tropical. The terrestrial vegetation type may be forest, steppe, grassland, the word habitat has been in use since about 1755 and derives from the Latin third-person singular present indicative of habitāre, to inhabit, from habēre, to have or to hold. Habitat can be defined as the environment of an organism. It is similar in meaning to a biotope, an area of environmental conditions associated with a particular community of plants. Generally speaking, animal communities are reliant on specific types of plant communities, some plants and animals are generalists, and their habitat requirements are met in a wide range of locations. The small white butterfly for example is found on all the continents of the world apart from Antarctica and its larvae feed on a wide range of Brassicas and various other plant species, and it thrives in any open location with diverse plant associations. Disturbance is important in the creation of biodiverse habitats, in the absence of disturbance, a climax vegetation cover develops that prevents the establishment of other species. Lightning strikes and toppled trees in tropical forests allow species richness to be maintained as pioneering species move in to fill the gaps created. Similarly coastal habitats can become dominated by kelp until the seabed is disturbed by a storm, another cause of disturbance is when an area may be overwhelmed by an invasive introduced species which is not kept under control by natural enemies in its new habitat. Terrestrial habitat types include forests, grasslands, wetlands and deserts, within these broad biomes are more specific habitats with varying climate types, temperature regimes, soils, altitudes and vegetation types. Many of these habitats grade into each other and each one has its own communities of plants. A habitat may suit a particular species well, but its presence or absence at any particular location depends to some extent on chance, on its dispersal abilities, freshwater habitats include rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, marshes and bogs. Although some organisms are found across most of these habitats, the majority have more specific requirements, similarly, aquatic plants can be floating, semi-submerged, submerged or grow in permanently or temporarily saturated soils besides bodies of water. Marine habitats include brackish water, estuaries, bays, the sea, the intertidal zone. Further variations include rock pools, sand banks, mudflats, brackish lagoons, sandy and pebbly beaches, the benthic zone or seabed provides a home for both static organisms, anchored to the substrate, and for a large range of organisms crawling on or burrowing into the surface. A desert is not the kind of habitat that favours the presence of amphibians, with their requirement for water to keep their skins moist, nevertheless, some frogs live in deserts, creating moist habitats underground and hibernating while conditions are adverse
9.
Coastal sage scrub
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It is within the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. Plant community Coastal sage scrub is characterized by low-growing aromatic, flora Characteristic shrubs and subshrubs include, California sagebrush, black sage, white sage, California buckwheat, coast brittle-bush, golden yarrow. Larger shrubs include, toyon and lemonade berry, herbaceous plants, grasses, and in some locales, cacti and succulents, are also part of the flora. The coastal sage plant community is divided into two geographical subtypes — northern coastal scrub and southern coastal scrub. Northern coastal scrub occurs along the Pacific Coast from the northern San Francisco Bay Area northwards to southern Oregon and it frequently forms a landscape mosaic with the California coastal prairie plant community. The predominant plants are low evergreen shrubs and herbs, Characteristic shrubs include coyote brush, yerba santa, coast silk-tassel, salal, and yellow bush lupine. Herbaceous species include western blue-eyed grass, Douglas iris, and grasses, Southern coastal scrub is mostly found along the maritime Central Coast region, and the terraces and mountains with coastal climate influence in Southern California. The plants of this community prefer the mild maritime climates found along Southern Californias coastline, world Wildlife Fund estimates that only 15 percent of the coastal sage scrublands remain undeveloped. Bernard Field Station at the Claremont Colleges, in San Diego County, the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base protects larger areas, and the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar has vernal pools and the endemic mint Pogogyne abramsii. One of the largest remaining areas of coastal sage scrub is found in the Temescal Mountains of Riverside County. A number of rare and endangered species occur in coastal scrub habitats. For example, the California gnatcatcher is a bird species endemic to the coastal sage scrublands. Other endemic fauna includes the El Segundo blue butterfly in the LAX dunes, the endangered Torrey pine is the dominant tree at Torrey Pines State Reserve in San Diego, one of only two known stands of this pine species. Terrace California coastal prairie California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion Native grasses of California Index, California chaparral and woodlands In, Mayer KE, a Guide to Wildlife Habitats of California. Sacramento, CA, California Department of Fish and Game, Coastal Scrub, de Becker, berkeley, CA, University of California Press. California coastal sage scrub and chaparral, Claremont Colleges, Robert J. Bernard Field Station website — Lists and photographs of organisms found in Coastal sage scrub. Las Pilitas horticulture database, California coastal sage plant community — text. Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants, Native Plant Guides — Southern California species
10.
Riparian zone
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A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the fifteen terrestrial biomes of the earth, Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks are called riparian vegetation, characterized by hydrophilic plants. In some regions the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, the word riparian is derived from Latin ripa, meaning river bank. Riparian zones may be natural or engineered for soil stabilization or restoration and these zones are important natural biofilters, protecting aquatic environments from excessive sedimentation, polluted surface runoff and erosion. They supply shelter and food for aquatic animals and shade that limits stream temperature change. When riparian zones are damaged by construction, agriculture or silviculture, biological restoration can take place, usually by human intervention in erosion control and revegetation. If the area adjacent to a watercourse has standing water or saturated soil for as long as a season, because of their prominent role in supporting a diversity of species, riparian zones are often the subject of national protection in a Biodiversity Action Plan. These are also known as a Plant or Vegetation Waste Buffer, research shows that riparian zones are instrumental in water quality improvement for both surface runoff and water flowing into streams through subsurface or groundwater flow. Particularly, the attenuation of nitrate or denitrification of the nitrates from fertilizer in this zone is important. The use of wetland riparian zones shows a high rate of removal of nitrate entering a stream. The meandering curves of a river, combined with vegetation and root systems, slow the flow of water, sediment is trapped, reducing suspended solids to create less turbid water, replenish soils, and build stream banks. Pollutants are filtered from surface runoff, enhancing water quality via biofiltration, the riparian zones also provide wildlife habitat, increased biodiversity, and wildlife corridors, enabling aquatic and riparian organisms to move along river systems avoiding isolated communities. Riparian vegetation can also forage for wildlife and livestock. They provide native landscape irrigation by extending seasonal or perennial flows of water, nutrients from terrestrial vegetation are transferred to aquatic food webs. The vegetation surrounding the stream helps to shade the water, mitigating water temperature changes, the vegetation also contributes wood debris to streams, which is important to maintaining geomorphology. From a social aspect, riparian zones contribute to nearby property values through amenity and views, space is created for riparian sports such as fishing, swimming and launching for vessels and paddlecraft. The protection of zones is often a consideration in logging operations. The undisturbed soil, soil cover, and vegetation provide shade, plant litter, and woody material, factors such as soil types and root structures, climatic conditions and vegetative cover determine the effectiveness of riparian buffering
11.
Extinction
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In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms, normally a species. The moment of extinction is considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed. Because a species range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult. This difficulty leads to such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly reappears after a period of apparent absence. More than 99 percent of all species, amounting to five billion species. Estimates on the number of Earths current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86 percent have not yet been described. More recently, in May 2016, scientists reported that 1 trillion species are estimated to be on Earth currently with only one-thousandth of one percent described, the relationship between animals and their ecological niches has been firmly established. Mass extinctions are relatively rare events, however, isolated extinctions are quite common, only recently have extinctions been recorded and scientists have become alarmed at the current high rate of extinctions. Most species that become extinct are never scientifically documented, some scientists estimate that up to half of presently existing plant and animal species may become extinct by 2100. A dagger symbol next to a name is often used to indicate its extinction. A species is extinct when the last existing member dies, Extinction therefore becomes a certainty when there are no surviving individuals that can reproduce and create a new generation. Pinpointing the extinction of a species requires a definition of that species. If it is to be declared extinct, the species in question must be distinguishable from any ancestor or daughter species. Extinction of a plays a key role in the punctuated equilibrium hypothesis of Stephen Jay Gould. In ecology, extinction is often used informally to refer to local extinction, in which a species ceases to exist in the area of study. This phenomenon is known as extirpation. Local extinctions may be followed by a replacement of the species taken from other locations, species which are not extinct are termed extant. Those that are extant but threatened by extinction are referred to as threatened or endangered species, currently an important aspect of extinction is human attempts to preserve critically endangered species
12.
Saber-toothed cat
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A saber-toothed cat is any member of various extinct groups of predatory mammals that were characterized by long, curved saber-shaped canine teeth. The large maxillary canine teeth extended from the mouth even when it was closed, the saber-toothed cats were found worldwide from the Eocene epoch to the end of the Pleistocene epoch, existing for about 42 million years. Extant members of Felidae include cats of the subfamilies Felinae and Pantherinae. In this regard, saber-toothed cats can be viewed as examples of convergent evolution. ”Of the feliform lineages, barbourofelidae entered around 16.9 mya and were extinct by 9 mya. These two would have shared some habitats, the different groups of sabre-toothed cats evolved their saber-toothed characteristics entirely independently. They are most known for having maxillary canines which extended down from the mouth even when the mouth was closed, saber-toothed cats were generally more robust than todays cats and were quite bear-like in build. They were believed to be excellent hunters and hunted animals such as sloths, mammoths, evidence from the numbers found at La Brea Tar Pits suggests that Smilodon, like modern lions, was a social carnivore. The first saber-tooths appear among the synapsids, or mammal-like reptiles, they were one of the first groups of animals to experience specialization of teeth, some had two pairs of upper canines with two jutting down from each side, but most had one pair of upper extreme canines. Because of their primitiveness, they are easy to tell from machairodonts. With no coronoid process, many sharp premolars more like pegs than scissors, the second appearance is in Deltatheroida, a lineage of Cretaceous metatherians. At least one genus, Lotheridium, possess long canines, the third appearance of long canines is Thylacosmilus, which is the most distinctive of the saber-tooth mammals and is also easy to tell apart. It differs from machairodonts in possessing a prominent flange and a tooth that is triangular in cross section. The root of the canines is more prominent than in machairodonts, the fourth instance of saber teeth is from clade Oxyaenidae. The small and slender Machaeroides bore canines that were thinner than in the average machairodont and its muzzle was longer and narrower. The fifth saber-tooth appearance is the ancient family of carnivores, the nimravids, both groups have short skulls, tall sagittal crests, and their general skull shape is very similar. Some have distinctive flanges, and some have none at all, machairodonts were almost always bigger, though, and their canines were longer and more stout for the most part, but exceptions do appear. The sixth appearance is the barbourofelids and these carnivores are very closely related to actual cats, and as such, they are hard to tell apart. The average machairodont had well-developed incisors, but barbourofelids were more extreme, the seventh and last of the saber-tooth group to evolve were the machairodonts themselves
