By Charly SHELTON

Antarctica was not always a frozen wasteland. Back in the Late Permian and Early Triassic, about 260 million years ago, it was more like Seattle, Washington in terms of climate – wet and full of giant forests, with temperatures in the 50s-to-60s degrees Fahrenheit. This was still slightly colder than the rest of Pangaea, but warmer than today’s Antarctic climate average of 20 degree summers and -56 degree winters. Suffice it to say, it was a great place for amphibians and, later into the Mesozoic era, a home for dinosaurs. By the Early Jurassic, around 190 million years ago, the land that would become Antarctica was home to a very unique, and fancy, dinosaur.

“Antarctic Dinosaurs” is a new exhibit recently opened at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and features the story of Antarctica, both as a landmass through time and as the antagonist in the story of how a crew of paleontologists from NHMLA and the Field Museum in Chicago had to battle the elements to get into the interior of the continent and extract the fossils from a hillside in Gordon Valley. Along the way, guests learn of the many expeditions that came before – some successful and some ill-fated – to study the interior of the continent and find the fossils.

The star of the attraction is the 25-foot-long carnivore, Cryolophosaurus. This is a unique dinosaur with a very fancy little bone crest atop its head in the shape of a quaff, earning it the nickname “Elvisaurus.” Both a full-sized skeletal reconstruction and a full-sized fleshed-out model are on display in the exhibit to allow guests the opportunity to really get to know the dinosaur on a life-size basis. Alongside the large carnivore are two smaller dinosaurs found on the same hillside – Sauropodomorphs A and B. These two tiny long-necked dinos are yet-to-be-named, hence the designation of A and B, but are built out in life-sized models to show what they would have looked like – essentially like Apatosaurs, but the size of a large dog. Along with other fossils here and there, and an impressive collection of cold weather excavation gear both modern and historic, this exhibit gives a snapshot of what exploration and paleontology are like in the coldest place on Earth.

The exhibition opens on Wednesday, April 3 and runs through Jan. 5, 2020 at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. For more information and tickets, visit NHM.org.

  Charly Shelton