The San Diego Natural History Museum recently opened Fossil Mysteries,
the largest and most comprehensive exhibition the museum has ever
undertaken. Blending traditional and contemporary exhibition techniques
on 9,700 feet of floor space, Fossil Mysteries showcases the last 75
million years in the Southern California and Baja California bioregion.
This bioregion is known among scientists for its incredibly rich fossil
record, which includes sharks three times the size of great whites,
mammoths, sea cows, lions, dinosaurs, giant sloths, whales, walruses,
saber-tooth cats, dire wolves and more.
Highlights of the exhibition include life-size models of a fully
fleshed-out megalodon shark (pictured), the most accurate depiction ever
created of this shark, which is the world’s largest known predator; an
articulated walrus in one of the biggest free-standing cases known to be
in any museum; a floor-to-ceiling “fossil aquarium” with actual whale
bones on display; a giant-sloth; and a swooping pterodactyl with a
23-foot wing span.
Children can enjoy huggable baby animals: a mastodon, a
brontothere and a sea cow. In addition, there are many touchable fossils
and hands-on activities. Displays and signage are the right height for
kids as well as adults.
The San Diego Natural History Museum is located in Balboa Park,
near downtown San Diego, California. The museum is open daily from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. and is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
For more information and admission fees: (619) 232-3821, www.sdnhm.org
