Visitors examine skeletal preparations and other exhibits at the Ibaraki Nature Museum in Bando, Ibaraki Prefecture, on March 2.
11:13 JST, March 25, 2024
BANDO, Ibaraki – Impressive skeletal specimens, mounted specimens and fossils are on display, allowing visitors to compare the evolution of dinosaurs and mammals from different perspectives at the Ibaraki Nature Museum in Bando, Ibaraki Prefecture.
A total of 351 objects will be on display until June 9 at the exhibition ‘Dinosaurs versus Mammals: Their Evolutions Revealed by Fossils’.
For example, the exhibits explain why four-legged mammals and bipedal dinosaurs could run fast through the features of the skeletons of servals, a member of the cat family, and Carnotaurus, a 7-meter-long carnivorous dinosaur.
Among other exhibits are the skeletal specimens of Gastornis, which escaped the mass extinction and evolved into today’s ostriches and other flightless birds called flightless birds, and Didelphodon, a dog-sized mammal from the Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs dominated the Earth.
By scanning QR codes with a smartphone camera, visitors can also enjoy enlarged images of some specimens from different angles.
“What we can introduce is only part of the beautiful story of how life has been nourished despite major environmental changes. But we hope the exhibitions will stimulate people’s interest in ancient animals,” said chief curator Kosuke Yoshikawa.
The museum is closed on Mondays, unless otherwise stated.
