225 million years ago, a creature that looked like a dolphin swam in the ocean. The Shonisaurus was the size of a whale with 60 razor-sharp teeth and two giant eyes. It could swim 35 miles an hour and dive 3,000 feet. Today it’s 40 feet off the ground. Now, the Nevada state fossil is on display at the Discovery Museum.
Sculptors spent last weekend installing the life-sized skeletal replica of the Shonisaurus above the museum’s lobby. Matt Sinclair is the Executive Director of the Discovery Museum.
“My initial thought was wow, the opportunity to hang a replica of the state fossil right here in our lobby was an opportunity hard to pass up.”
The sculpture was created for the Burning Man festival. Sinclair says it fits the museums mission of trying to incorporate art as a way to better explain science.
“Art informs science and science informs art and this is a great piece because it really mixes both of those together," explains Sinclair.
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