Features
Marine Marvels
Credit: Faculty of Science
by Nicole Doucette Walking into UBC’s Earth Sciences Building, you find yourself face to face with a set of very sharp teeth. These are attached to a 13-metre-long resin-cast skeleton of an elasmosaur, a majestic creature that inhabited the ocean 80 million years ago.
give us a nearly complete look at its fantastic features, potential diet and ecology."
"We hope to ignite a sense of amazement and curiosity in visitors as they imagine this majestic sea creature swimming through a Cretaceous sea,” says Kirsten Hodge, Director of UBC’s Pacific Museum of Earth (PME). "Complete specimens of this marine reptile are rare, but partial and fragmentary skulls
UBC's elasmosaur was made possible by the support of Wheaton Precious Metals, a Vancouver-based mining sector company that also supported the construction of UBC’s Earth Sciences Building. The skeleton assembly and installation was led by Mike deRoos of Cetacea Contracting, a Salt Spring
The skeleton was installed in late summer 2018 and is a nod towards the PME’s focus on illuminating Earth's evolution.
Island-based company that specializes in the design and articulation of marine and terrestrial skeletons, as well as science outreach. For more information on the elasmosaur skeleton, visit: https://science.ubc.ca/news/ ubc-museum-welcomes-ancient-sea-monster
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To explore other exhibits at the Pacific Museum of Earth, visit: https://pme.ubc.ca/
