9/20/23

By Bill Gasper, Sternberg Museum

HAYS, Kan. – Visitors to FHSU’s Sternberg Museum of Natural History will have the opportunity to trek back in time 66 million years and explore the world that dinosaurs once ruled in the museum’s upcoming traveling exhibition: Expedition Dinosaur: Rise of the Mammals.

The exhibit, which is curated by renowned working paleontologist Thomas Williamson, was created by Stage 9 Exhibits and is distributed by Exhibits Development Group. It is scheduled to open Sept. 29 and close Dec. 21.

“I'm extremely enthusiastic about bringing this blockbuster exhibit featuring dinosaurs, the asteroid impact that led to their demise, and the mammals that arose from the extinction event to dominate the earth," said Reese Barrick, Sternberg Museum director.

The exhibition combines prehistoric reptiles with an interactive educational experience for visitors of all ages. It turns the clock back to the Cretaceous Period, 66 million years ago, when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, and explains how mammals evolved to become the dominant species after the downfall of the dinosaur era.

Featuring life-size and lifelike animatronic dinosaurs and mammals with realistic movements and sound, museum-goers can venture into the time when some of the most iconic dinosaurs ruled the Earth: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Edmontosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, and the curious oviraptorsaur Anzu. Giant Pterosaurs flew through the skies with 40-foot wing spans, and marine lizards such as the plesiosaurs thrived in the oceans.

In addition to standing face-to-face with life-sized dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals, visitors will have the opportunity to have their picture taken in the jaws of a T-Rex and study fossils that are as many as 300 million years old. Young paleontologists-in-training will hone their budding archeology skills by extracting dinosaur bones from a fossil dig pit.

Included in the nearly 6,000-square-foot exhibition are:

• Dinosaur fossil hunters’ Jeep truck and tools
• Interactive dinosaur draw and animation station
• Ten full-motion, animatronic dinosaurs and mammals with realistic movements & sounds
• Full-size T-Rex skull replica
• Geology interactive with augmented reality sand play
• Large dinosaur mouth photo op
• Day of the Event Comet Puzzle
• Video fossil scanning station with interactive display.
• A dinosaur fossil dig