VINCE SCHNEIDER SHOWS OFF A SMALL PORTION OF THE MUSEUM'S EXTENSIVE MARINE FOSSIL COLLECTION. 



of Leptocycas gracilis, an extinct sago 

 palm, was discovered. As we linger in 

 the Triassic period, Schneider points 

 out a phytosaur, discovered in a Lee 

 County coal mine, and the skeletal cast 

 of a rauisuchid, a forerunner of the 

 crocodile. 



Moving into the Jurassic period, 

 we notice the appearance of birds and 

 mammals with dinosaurs. A mural 

 shows the branching lines of dinosaur 

 evolution. By the end of the Jurassic 

 period, the Mid-Atlantic suboceanic 

 ridge ruptures Pangaea into two land 

 masses, setting into geologic motion 



the drift of continents toward their 

 modern positions over the following 150 

 million years. 



THE CRETACEOUS 

 ON THE CAPE FEAR 



When we reach the Cretaceous 

 period at a location on the banks of the 

 ancestral Cape Fear River, the scene is 

 abundant with sights and sounds. An 

 Albertosaurus, a tyrannosaurid, crashes 

 through the forest to attack a defenseless 

 Edmontosaurus, a duckbill, guarding 

 her nest of hafchlings. Primitive cypress, 

 sycamore and magnolia trees, with leaf 



patterns and structure too real to be 

 fabrications, provide a natural ecological 

 setting that is complete with soft shell 

 turtles, birds, small animals and pesky 

 dung beetles. 



"Willo," said to be the most 

 complete Thescelosaurus ever found, 

 has a special place here. Perhaps it's a 

 way to thank the small, swine-like 

 herbivore for putting up with scientific 

 probing to unlock its biological secrets 

 buried millions of years ago in South 

 Dakota. The results of MRI and CAT 

 scans, isotopic bone studies and other 

 scientific assays, will provide the basis 



TRI 



250m,ll,o, 



200 millk 



EARLY CRETACEOUS 



150 million 



22 SPRING 2000 



