Groundbreaking Exhibition Follows the Trail of Nevada’s Ichthyosaur Fossil Finds and a Chance to “Swim” with Sea Dragons

A Timeline of Discovery, Art and Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art

RENO, Nev., July 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Long before there were humans or even dinosaurs, there were ichthyosaurs — colossal marine reptiles that swam through an ancient ocean in what is known today as Nevada.

In a new exhibition on view, beginning Sept. 7, 2024, at the Nevada Museum of Art, visitors will journey through Nevada’s prehistoric past with spectacular, never-before-seen fossils of these 250-million-year-old sea reptiles.

Deep Time: Sea Dragons of Nevada is the largest gathering of giant ichthyosaur fossils to be assembled under one roof. Spanning 9,000 square feet, the exhibition combines science with art, history, and design to tell the story of the rise and fall of the ichthyosaur, and its unique connection to Nevada.

The ichthyosaur, meaning “fish-lizard” in Greek, inhabited prehistoric seas for 160 million years before extinction. Ichthyosaur eyes measured nearly a foot in diameter, the largest of any vertebrate animal. Certain species’ body lengths exceed 65 feet, longer than a bowling lane. They are considered by some to be the largest creatures to have ever lived on Earth.

In Deep Time: Sea Dragons of Nevada, visitors begin a time traveling journey via a room-sized light installation, titled Swell, by contemporary artist Anthony McCall. In the main exhibit space, visitors encounter displays representing Nevada mountain ranges, discovering over 20 fossil specimens excavated between 1868 and 2022. Anchoring the exhibition is a full-size visualization of an ichthyosaur that reacts to human movement and presence, giving visitors a chance to “swim” alongside the ancient reptile.

Fossil specimens for Deep Time come from the collections of the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, with permission from the Bureau of Land Management; University of California Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley; Cincinnati Museum Center; Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology; California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; Natural History Museum of Utah; and the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas.

The exhibit also highlights the contributions of unsung woman paleontologist Annie Alexander, detailing many of her fossil discoveries in Nevada’s outback. Additionally, the Museum is publishing a children’s storybook centered on Alexander’s numerous expeditions. This year-long exhibit builds anticipation for the opening of the Charles and Stacie Mathewson Education and Research Center. It will closely collaborate with the Museum’s Center for Art + Environment, an internationally recognized research center promoting the practice, study, and awareness of creative interactions between people and their environment.

Also on display are numerous examples of paleoart, showcasing the collaboration between artists and scientists over the centuries to help society visualize these ancient sea creatures. Accompanying the paleoart are highlights from one of the nation’s largest collections of vintage dinosaur and prehistoric animal toys, amassed by the late Jack Arata whose passion for dinosaurs was ignited by a childhood visit to the ichthyosaur fossil fields in Berlin, Nevada.

The exhibition is co-curated by Ann M. Wolfe, the Museum’s Chief Curator, along with lead paleontologist Dr. Martin Sander. It is designed by award-winning exhibition designer Nik Hafermaas of Berlin, Germany.

See a full digital press kit with video of Dr. Sander’s 2023 Nevada expedition

https://nevadaart.sharefile.com/public/share/web-s62819b47793645f88103bb987630f460

SOURCE Nevada Museum of Art