This hanging Brachauchenius is reminiscent of the dinosaurs hanging in the lobby of the visitor’s center in “Jurassic Park”, the movie. |
A Tyrannosaurid (T-Rex) viewed through the trees on the 2nd floor of the museum.
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The museum has 3,750,000 specimens of fossils*, mostly from the Cretaceous Period. Above, many dinosaurs have long been known to run in herds, in the foreground are duck-billed Dinosaurs Corythosaurus. (*The word fossil is from the Latin fossus, literally “having been dug up.”) |
Dragons of the air
Winged reptiles, called pterosaurs, ruled the skies over the warm sea that covered Kansas during the Cretaceous Period. Pterosaurs nested along the shore, but flew far out to sea in search of fish, their main food supply. Male Pteranodon sternbergi (above) were toothless flying reptiles with 23 foot wingspans, females had 13 foot wingspans.
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George Fryer Sternberg (1883–1969) was a paleontologist best known for his digs and fossil collecting in the cretaceous sea beds of North America’s western plains. |
In 1952, Sternberg discovered this 14-foot Xiphactinus (Zie-FACT-i-nus) with its final meal, a 6-foot Gillicus, preserved within its ribcage. Above is a photo of the actual specimen. |
Head detail of the actual Xiphactinus. |
The 6-foot Gillicus inside. |
This Deinonychus lived along the sea shore. |
(Interested in collecting your own fossils? http://www.stonesbones.com/)
The Hesperonrnis, toothed bird, was unable to fly and had thick & heavy bones.
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Ichthyornis bone cast & Hesperornis illustration. |
Interesting examples of fossilized dinosaur skin. |
Ancient Aquatic Life |
Panoplosaurus Skull |
Saber-toothed cat Machairodontinae (Felidae) |
The robust, cone-shaped teeth on this marine lizard Tylosaurus give clues to the kinds of animals it ate. These teeth worked best for holding fleshy animals like sharks or smaller mosasaurs, but life was precarious for even the most savage predators, as they were also prey for larger sea creatures in the ongoing battle for supremacy of the sea.
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The very long spinal column and fin bones of the marine lizard “Tylosaurus” are shown in the complete skeleton. (below) |
A model of the marine lizard “Tylosaurus.” |
Meat-eating dinosaurs:
Three groups of meat eaters hunted during the Late Cretaceous Period. These included the large tyrannosaurids like Tyrannosaurus Rex, Albertausaurus, Daspletosaurus and the smaller dromaeosaurids like Deinonychus. A third group, the toothless ornithomimids like Chirostenotes, may have been omnivores, feeding on eggs, small animals, carrion (dead animals), and plants.
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Tyrannosaurus Rex was one of the largest land carnivores of all time; the largest complete specimen, “Sue” (FMNH PR2081) was displayed in the Sternberg Museum for a period of time, she measured 12.3 metres (40 ft) long. |
OTHER EXHIBITS
Today’s Dinosaur Cousins:
There are a half dozen displays of today’s living reptiles (turtles-snakes-lizards) on the second floor of the museum, plus many stuffed birds and a few living amphibians in the lobby.
An angry rattler, ready to strike and shaking it’s rattles. |
Same snake a moment later, coiled and defensive. |
This particular snake is well camouflaged in the rocks. |
The Sternberg Museum also has a large gift shop and book store.
(Note: the store closes an hour before the museum does.)
Central Grocery Co. in the French Quarter is famous as the home of the New Orleans Muffuletta Sandwich invented by Salvatore Lupo, to feed the Sicilian truck farmers who sold their produce at the Farmer’s Market on Decatur Street in the French Quarter. |
ARTSnFOOD, is an online publication dedicated to “The Pursuit of Happiness, the Arts and Food.” ™ All rights reserved. Concept, Original Art, Text & Photographs are © Copyright 2012 Jack A. Atkinson under all International intellectual property and copyright laws. All gallery, museum, fair, auction or festival photographs were taken with permission. Images © individual artists, fabricators, respective owners or assignees.
The animal at the very top is actually Brachauchenius, which is a short necked (Pliosaurid) plesiosaur; Tylosaurus is a mosasaur.
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