New Museum of the Rockies Exhibit

The center of the North American continent was once an ocean. That was a few years ago - oh, maybe 70 million years or so. The Museum of the Rockies is setting up a new "aquarium" display that will be filled with ancient fossils from the "Savage Ancient Seas."

You might wonder about the title of the exhibit. Just take a look at the teeth on some of the fossils (photo above). "Savage" seems like the right description to me. The aquarium will not be filled with water and the fossils will be suspended from the ceiling. There are over 30 casts and real fossils, many from the Western Interior Sea.

What will you see? Check out the size of these guys. The 45-foot-long Bunker Tylosaurus, the Pteranodon with a 20-foot wingspan, the Archelon sea turtle with 17-foot flipper span, The 20-foot long Xiphactinus (also called the X-fish). And then there's the Elasmosaurus, which is a long-necked plesiosaur. It's about 40 feet long with a 23-foot long neck.

In a Montana State University news release, officials said some of the specimens are on display in the state for the first time, unless you were here 70 million years ago.
The aquarium will have kiosks where you'll be be able to learn about their lives. The exhibit opens this weekend on January 23 and will be "floating" until May 2.

The Bozeman museum is a Montana treasure. This exhibit is just part of you'll see. I especially like their planetarium. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and due to COVID-19, there are limited daily admissions and face masks are required. By the way, kids under age 4 are free. check out the museum's website.