The American Museum of Natural History is taking visitors back to one of the most dramatic moments in Earth’s history with its news exhibition, “Impact: The End of the Age of Dinosaurs.”
The exhibit explores what happened before and after the asteroid strike that wiped out dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
"[We’re] talking about the evidence, so how do we know that an asteroid hit the planet and then the other thing which I think is interesting for folks to reflect upon is what's the implications for current biodiversity on the planet,” said Sean Decatur, president of the American Museum of Natural History.
Visitors move through a series of immersive displays, including life-size models, fossil casts, hands-on interactives and an animation that recreates the moment the skies went dark.
“We're really trying to give you a scientifically accurate depiction of what real animals and real ecosystems looked like,” said Roger Benson, Macaulay curator of dinosaur paleobiology.
The exhibition showcases how life recovered in the millions of years following the extinction event.
Guests can stand face to face with a 27-foot mosasaur, a 30-foot plesiosaur and the towering 15-foot paraceratherium, one of the largest mammals ever to walk the Earth.
“Impact: The End of the Age of Dinosaurs” is open to the public at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.