Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History

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Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure

Sea Monsters

Sponsored by NTV

March 4 - December 1, 2008

Accompany a team of paleontologists as they work to solve an 82 million year-old mystery.

The new giant screen film Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure by National Geographic premieres at the Lied Super Screen Theatre on Monday, March 3. The film, sponsored by NTV, brings to life the extraordinary marine reptiles of the dinosaur age on the biggest screen in out-state Nebraska. From the giraffe-necked Styxosaurus and the 20-foot “bulldog” fish Xiphactinus to the T-Rex of the ocean — the 40-foot super-predator Tylosaurus — these wondrous beasts defy imagination.

During the premiere, Mike Everhart, a science advisor for the film and adjunct curator of paleontology at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Hays, Kansas, will share his experiences of working on the film and his discoveries of marine fossils in western Kansas.

The film, narrated by Tony Award-winning actor Liev Schreiber and an original score by longtime musical collaborators Richard Evans, David Rhodes and Peter Gabriel, takes audiences on a remarkable journey into the relatively unexplored world of the “other dinosaurs,” those reptiles that lived beneath the water. Funded in part through a grant from the National Science Foundation, the film delivers to the giant screen the fascinating science behind what we know, and a vision of history’s grandest ocean creatures.

“This is the first giant screen film to show what life was like in Nebraska during the age of dinosaurs and explains why we find mosasaur fossils instead of T-Rex,” said museum director Becky Matticks.

You can see the fossilized remains of some of the creatures from the giant screen film in the Rocks, Minerals and Fossils exhibit on the upper level of the museum.

real fossilized dinosaur leg bone

What! - No Dinosaurs? During the Cretaceous Period, what is now Nebraska was covered by a shallow inland sea. This accounts for the lack of land dwelling dinosaur fossils in Nebraska - they simply did not live in this area.

The Cretaceous world was very different from the Earth we know. Eighty million years ago, places such as Nebraska were at the bottom of a great inland sea that divided North America in two. A warmer climate meant more of the globe was submerged — Europe was just a smattering of islands, much of Asia was underwater and a shallow ocean engulfed nearly all of Australia. On this sodden sphere, cold-blooded seagoing reptiles flourished, and as these ocean giants died, their skeletons were left in locations that are now high and dry.

Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure weaves together spectacular photorealistic animation with standout finds from paleontological digs around the world — treasures that shed light on the film’s incredible cast of characters.

The film follows a family of Dolichorhynchops, “Dollies,” as they traverse ancient waters populated with saber-toothed fish, prehistoric sharks and giant squid. On their journey the Dollies encounter other extraordinary sea creatures: lizard-like reptiles called Platecarpus that swallowed their prey whole like snakes; Styxosaurus with necks nearly 20-feet long and paddle-like fins as large as an adult human; and at the top of the food chain, the monstrous Tylosaurus, a predator with no enemies.

Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure can be seen several times daily at the Lied Super Screen Theatre from March 4 - December 1, 2008. Premiere members should make reservations as soon as possible for the premiere on Monday, March 3. Please call Visitor Services at 402-461-4629 or 1-800-508-4629 for showtimes or to purchase tickets.

To learn more about the film, visit http://www.nationalgeographic.com/seamonsters

Click here for showtimes
or call 1-800-508-4629

Schedule is subject to change.