Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure

  

Engaging IMAX Film Presents Extraordinary Marine Reptiles of the Dinosaur Age

Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure, a stunning large-format film, opened at the American Museum of Natural History on Saturday, May 24, 2008. Narrated by Tony Award-winning actor Liev Schreiber, the 40-minute film explores the largely unknown world of the "other" dinosaurs, reptiles that lived beneath the water 80 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period, when places such as Kansas were at the bottom of a great inland sea that divided North America in two. During this period of warmer climate much of the world was submerged and cold-blooded seagoing reptiles flourished. When these giant creatures died and the seas receded, their fossils were found on what is now dry land.

Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure follows an animated family of Dolichorhynchops (a sea creature approximately the size of a dolphin with a long snout), informally known as "Dollies," as they travel these ancient waters. During their journey the Dollies encounter many other astonishing sea creatures including Platecarpus, a lizard-like reptile that swallows its prey whole like snakes; Styxosaurus, with a 20-foot-long neck and paddle-like fins as large as an adult human; and the gigantic, top-of-the-food-chain Tylosaurus.

The film also visits paleontological digs around the world and shows how and what scientists know about these creatures. For example, shark teeth found throughout the central United States prove that sharks thrived during the Age of the Dinosaurs, while the shapes of their jaws and teeth provide clues about their diets. Occasionally paleontologists are lucky enough to discover bones of one species inside the remains of the other, such as a fossilized Xiphactinus, a 17-foot-long predatory fish found with an entire 6-foot fish inside, swallowed whole.

Funded in part by the National Science Foundation, Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure was produced by National Geographic Cinema Ventures.

Showtimes

May 24, 2008 - July 4, 2008
Sea Monsters - 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:30pm

July 5, 2008 - September 1, 2008
Sea Monsters - 10:30am, 12:30 pm, 2:30pm, 4:30pm

September 2, 2008 - January 4, 2009
Sea Monsters - 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:30pm

Dinosaurs Alive!

  

Follow Museum Scientists to Mongolia and New Mexico on Expeditions That Yielded Great Fossil Finds

Thrilling Film Narrated by Academy Award-Winning Actor Michael Douglas

Dinosaurs Alive! a stunning large-format film, began its New York premiere engagement at the American Museum of Natural History on Saturday, May 19, 2007. Narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Michael Douglas, the film follows current American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) paleontologists as they hunt for dinosaur remains in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico and uncover evidence that the descendents of dinosaurs still walk (or fly) among us. This 40-minute film shot, in part, at the Museum features the earliest dinosaurs of the Triassic Period and the creatures of the Cretaceous Period brought to life through the magic of realistic computer-generated animation.

Dinosaurs Alive! shows AMNH paleontologists Mike Novacek and Mark Norell and an inspired team of dedicated young graduate students on an expedition to the Gobi Desert. Following in the footsteps of AMNH scientist and adventurer Roy Chapman Andrews, Novacek and Norell have been making annual treks to the Gobi every summer for the past 17 years. The film also features rare and beautifully preserved footage of Andrews—believed to be the inspiration for the Indiana Jones character—on one of his five expeditions there in the 1920s. Andrews and his team uncovered hundreds of dinosaur remains, including the first Velociraptor and dinosaur nests with eggs.

Showtimes

July 5, 2008 - September 1, 2008
Dinosaurs Alive - 11:30am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm