Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure

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

See a life-sized sculpture of a Tylosaurus in the museum's lightwell.

The large-format film Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure 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.

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 large-format film to show what life was like in Nebraska during the age of dinosaurs and explains why we find Tylosaurus fossils instead of T-Rex,” said museum director Becky Matticks.

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

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. Educational material and teacher's guide are available.

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

Schedule is subject to change.

Contact Us | Site Index
1330 N Burlington Ave., P.O. Box 1286, Hastings, Nebraska 68902
402-461-4629 | 800-508-4629
© 2010 Hastings Museum of Natural & Cultural History