There's a new web site - L.A. Underground - that contains information about Los Angeles' Metro Transportation Authority fossil remains, which were recently discovered during construction of the subway. Before you read any further, I should warn you that this site is American based, which may not be of much interest to some Canadians. Although, if you're a youth who's looking for factual information on paleontology, and the MTA's fossil remains, then you'll find this site to be your niche.
When you first open L.A. Underground's web site, an annoying, somewhat intrusive message will appear that asks you to download Shockwave plug-ins. This type of plug-in is needed in order to receive full access &endash; to what seems like &endash; the website's entire eye-catching graphics and animation. I was turned-off by this requirement because not everyone has enough computer memory to access this plug-in. To be exact, the Shockwave plug-in is a 1,059k file.
As you begin your navigation you'll come across three categories: Fossil Fantastic, L.A. Yesteryear, and L.A. Tomorrow. The first &endash; Fossil Fantastic &endash; takes an historical look at the fossil remains found in Los Angeles' Metro Rail subway. There are also a plethora of photographs of extinct mammalian, marine and plant life excavations. Like I said before, if you don't download Shockwave plug-ins, then you can't enjoy Fossil Fantastic's animated features. I would recommend Fossil Fantastic as an educational tool for youth because there's information on Miocene and Pleistocene Epoch's, which are historic fossils. If you check out Kids Corner, there's a quiz that tests your knowledge about the information outlined in the site.
Next there's L.A. Yesteryear, which takes a nostalgic look at L.A.'s past from 1857 to 1930. As you browze-around you'll come across an activity for (American) kids called L.A.'s A to Z quiz, which has almost impossible to answer trivia questions, especially for Canadian's who are foreign to American events. However, if your looking for facts about America's past, for a project you're doing in school, then L.A. Yesteryear would be helpful.
The last category, L.A. Tomorrow, gives you a futuristic tour of the Metro Rail's extended new service to Hollywood, Universal City and North Hollywood. If you plan on becoming a paleontologist, or have interest in the field, you should check out this site. On the flip-side, if you're just looking for some cool, worldwide educational information, then this site isn't &endash; what I would refer to as &endash; top-notch. It's limited in scope because the focus is on L.A.'s Metro Rail subway fossil remains, which is interesting for someone who lives in L.A., but are non-American's also going to be enthused?