By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
How often do you get to pet a t-rex or take your photo with a Triceratops?
You can do both and much more at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History's latest exhibit "Age of the Dinosaurs" by Kokoro Exhibits. This is the third Kokoro exhibit the museum has hosted. Other exhibits that were staged at the museum included an exhibit on the ice age and the giant insect exhibit from a few years ago.
The exhibit, which features animatronic dinosaurs from the Mesozoic era, displays the dinosaurs with backdrops depicting what likely was their natural habitats.
Rachel Unruh, museum marketing and public relations coordinator, said the exhibit dates back to the 1980s, but still offers plenty to delight visitors.
Unruh said this traveling exhibit differs from the dinosaurs featured under the museum's iconic dome in that the exhibit includes more animatronics and more interactive displays.
"Everyone likes the t-rex because of the growling and the shaking of its head ," she said.
Visitors can also experience several interactive stations, including taking your pictures with a T-Rex or Triceratops, operating the animatronic skeleton of a dinosaur, putting together dinosaur puzzles, exploring more information on a tablet, digging for fossils or listening to different dinosaur calls.
Unruh said the children who have visited the exhibit so far this week have loved hearing the t-rex roar and seeing the Apatosaurus swing it's long neck out over their heads.
"All the little kids laugh at the Stegosaurus because he just likes to open his mouth like he's yawning," Unruh said. "He kind of looks like a turtle, so I think that's why a lot of kids think he's the cutest."
The exhibit not only features adult dinosaurs, but their young. Unruh said recent research indicates dinosaurs may have had more family ties than modern reptiles.
"It is very calming to watch the mom check on its baby," Unruh said of the vignette with the Apatosaurs and its young. "Oh, hey it's you. It almost reminds me of an elephant with its baby. Elephants are tall and gentle like that too."
"You can see how the research has changed and developed," Unruh said. "Some information may be outdated and some may be the same. It is up to you to spot the differences or see the consistencies. It shows science is important, and we are always continuing to learn."
You can hear simulated calls of the dinosaurs throughout the main level of the museum. Unruh said research into dinosaur sound is another field that is evolving.
Although not part of the exhibit, Unruh said researches employed the aid of musicians to simulate the sound of the Saurolophus. The dinosaur has a large crest on its head and looks a lot like the dinosaur Ducky in the"Land Before Time."
The researches used tubes to blow air through a replica of a skull of a Saurolophus. You can find videos online of what that sounded like. The crest on the top of the dinosaurs head was once thought to be a snorkel, but researches now think the crown aided in the dinosaurs in creating sound and communicating, Unruh said.
The exhibit opened over the weekend and will be at the Sternberg through Sept. 7. A video on how the exhibit was set up at the Sternberg is set to be released later on the museum's YouTube channel.
You can also still see the Sternberg's "A Look Inside" exhibit, but hurry the exhibit will be headed out as soon as it is booked with another museum.
The Sternberg Museum is following CDC and Fort Hays State University policies in regards to masks. Those visitors who have been vaccinated will not required to wear masks.
Unruh said the museum is becoming increasingly busy as school lets out and COVID restrictions ease. Social distancing is still easy to maintain at the museum, she said.
Unruh said more people are wanting to get their families out of the house, and the museum can be a fun excursion that requires little planning or an alternative to outdoor activities on days with inclement weather.
A couple from West Virginia stayed overnight in Hays Tuesday as part of a cross country trip so they could take their three grandchildren, who are from Ireland, to the museum Wednesday. They couple, who have fossil and mineral businesses in West Virginia and Colorado Springs, said they thought it would be a fun stop for the children.