Museum hosts bites that’ll give you frights
If you’re a bit of a nervous swimmer, be thankful you were not around
100 million years ago, when the oceans around New Zealand were teeming with Prognathodon, a marine lizard known for its massively built jaws and teeth.
“It’s related to current crocodiles,” says Kelly Bewley, Auckland Museum’s head of exhibitions.
“There’s a really nice relation to creatures that are alive today.”
The creature is in the Mosasaur family, one of three main ancient sea monsters on display at Ta¯maki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum for the new exhibition Sea Monsters opening on Wednesday.
And if Prognathodon doesn’t scare you, how about the 13-metre Elasmosaurus, with its long powerful neck and large, fangs.
Sea Monsters follows a chronological narrative from the earliest ichthyosaurs right through to today’s ocean predators.
“In this exhibition you’ll see
70-odd displays,” Bewley says. There are lots of interactives, including one where you can create your own sea monster, scan it and then have it projected onto a large display. And, what will probably be the most popular section, Terrible Teeth.
“It’s taken about two weeks to build the exhibition here,” says Bewley.
“A lot of effort went in in Australia to develop this content in collaboration with Espen Knutsen, a palaeontologist in Queensland. ”
In the July school holidays,
families are invited to spend a night with the prehistoric ocean predators at Sleepover with Sea
Monsters, when they can explore the darkened galleries and get up close and personal with the scary stars of the show before falling asleep among life-size replicas of Elasmosaurus and Prognathodon.