ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A new exhibit featuring nearly 300 never-before-seen fossils will open at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science on Saturday.
The Bradbury Stamm Construction Hall of Ancient Life completes the museum’s exploration of life in New Mexico by telling the story of 300 million years of evolution. “This really sets people up to learn what happened in New Mexico before the dinosaurs, what was living here, what New Mexico looked like,” said Matt Celeskey, curator of exhibits at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science.
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Guests who start at the entrance to the exhibit will be able to essentially “walk through” the Paleozoic Era, which is when life crawled out of the sea for the first time and amphibians, reptiles, and arthropods all evolved.
“I want to believe most people will be surprised about how different New Mexico was during the Paleozoic,” said Dr. Spencer Lucas, curator of paleontology and curator of the new exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. “You know, today we live in New Mexico; it’s a high desert. We’re almost a thousand miles away from the sea, and it’s a very dry, you know, kind of climate. And to realize that New Mexico in the Paleozoic was at or very near the equator that seas came and went.”
The fossils on display from that time period include ancient fish, amphibians, invertebrates, reptiles, and more. Two of the largest fossils on display are the remains of a Dracopristis shark that was found near Tijeras and a partial Gordodon skeleton that was found near Alamogordo.
Visitors to the exhibit will be able to see the fossils alongside life-size models of what researchers believed they looked like. The walls of the exhibit are also covered in murals depicting some of the environments that once existed in the state, like jungles and beaches.
“It’s very rewarding because it brings to life a world that I could only imagine in my mind,” said Lucas. “And now I can look at all this fantastic artwork and the sculptures and all that and really see what we think things were like.”
At the end of the exhibit hall, visitors will learn about the end of the Paleozoic Era, which was marked by the Permian extinction. According to the museum, the Permian extinction is the largest extinction event in known history and eventually paved the way for dinosaurs to evolve.
“Then they can continue into our dinosaur halls and then our fossil mammal halls and our volcanoes and caves,” Celeskey added.
Before leaving the Hall of Ancient Life, guests are encouraged to check out the interactive digital displays, including one where visitors can take a photo and create their own virtual postcard to digitally download on their own devices.
“We’ve come together to pull all these resources together and create something that we’re really excited about showing off. It’s very gratifying to see it really taking shape and all the final pieces falling into place,” said Celesky.
The Bradbury Stamm Construction Hall of Ancient Life is the first major exhibit hall to open at the museum in about 16 to 17 years. It replaced the “Origins Hall” on the second floor of the museum and marks the first renovation of this space since 1987, just a year after the museum opened to the public.
Saturday, the exhibit will be open to members only from 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. After that, members of the public will be able to enter.
On Sunday, the museum will have free admission for New Mexico residents. For more information, click here.