NAMAL (Part One)

["Rob Gay" <rob_redwing@hotmail.com>]

As I mentioned earlier (a week or two ago), I was going to visit the new
North American Museum of Ancient Life in Nephi (South of SLC), here in Utah.
Here's my thoughts on it:
Wow. First of all, the place is gigantic. In the foyer, there is a
_Torvosaurus_ mount chasing three _Othnelia_, in an (obviously) very active
pose. So, I became impressed at first glance.
Behind the ticket counter ($9 for one person!) is the famous Denver
_Stegosaurus_ with the horizontal spikes and throat pouch, on the wall.
It should be noted here that this museum is partially associated at least
with one comercial outfit, so I do have that gripe with it. On the other
hand, it shows what alot of money thrown at a museum can really do.
Anyways, the next section was a mock-up paleo camp with dioramas of a dig in
progress, with the usual "How is a fossil made?", "Which is a fossil?" type
exhibits. The center of the room is a large sauropod sacrum and illiae.
Along the dioramas they talk about how digs are run. You then walk through a
paleo "shack" (I dunno who runs digs out of places that look that nice. Well
constructed wooden hut with all kinds of amenities. You walk through the
back of the hut to continue on.
It should also be noted here that this commercial outift is apparently
running the old Bone Cabin quarry, so a lot of their stuff is from this
locality.
The next portion involves the history of the earth from the big bang up
until the Triassic. Very cool dioramas of the Pennsylvanian, and a neat
"aquarium" showing an icthyosaur (with misplaced nostrils) being scavanged
(which was cool). Also a pretty neat Permian setup, with a _Lystrosaurus_
hanging out in the corner, while a _Dimetrodon_ runs at three _Eyrops_, in
various threat poses.
The main disappointment in this section was the somewhat poor layout, and
the dismal representation of Triassic dinosaurs (and other Triassic animals,
no aetosaurs, phytosaurs, etc.). They had a very undynamic _Eoraptor_ and
_Herrerasaurus_ mount, and a _Plateosaurus_ skull. Also, they called
_Herrerasaurus_ a dinosaur, which I would agree with only 2 sacrals...
Another quick note: When I say mount, I would like to point out that these
mounts are all casts. Any original bone was behind glass, not mounted.
Then on to the Jurassic. Wow. I was immediately impressed. Throughout the
museum, the thing that impressed me the most was the forward thinking,
highly dynamic displays, that involved the public. In this case, on a ledge
about a meter and a half off the ground was a "nest site" of _Othnelia_,
with about a dozen animals, including a couple (likely hypothetical)
juveniles in the nest. Underneath, there was a place for the kids to climb
under, and view a mammal nest. Across the aisle, in a glass case, was a 40%
complete specimen of _Coelurus_. They had a cast skull on it, so I'm not
sure if they had cast it from actual material, but it had a booted pubis,
and very maniraptorian-looking hands.
Behind the _Othnelia_ nest was a "cliff" with a fallen tree across the
passageway to the next portion of the Jurassic. Two small theropods whoms
name started with a "T" (and looked like _Coelurus_) were racing across, one
sprinting on the log, and the other in the process of taking down another
_Othnelia_, while two other _Othnelia_ sprint away.
On the other side of the log, on the left (in a zoo-like enclosure), three
crocodylians were "feeding" on a dead _Stegosaurus_ (again, the Denver
specimen), while a juvenile _Stegosaurus_ looked on. Two display cases
contained a crocodylian skull and (IIRC) a stegosaur plate. High in the air
above this was the head of _Supersaurus_, which stretched the length of the
hall. The next display case contained a juvenile _Ceratosaurus_, with a
beautiful skull. Across the aisle from that, two mounts of the juvie
_Ceratosaurus_ were feeding on a fallen _Camarasaurus_.
Note part one in the title. I didn't realise that this would be so long, and
its getting late here in Price, so I will add Part Two tomorrow morning. ;)
Peace,
Rob

Student of Geology
Northern Arizona University
Biological Science Tech
Manti-La Sal National Forest
AIM: TarryAGoat
http://www.geocities.com/elvisimposter/dinopics.html
http://www.cafepress.com/RobsDinos
"A _Coelophysis_ with feathers?"


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