ROYAL SASKATCHEWAN MUSEUM PRESENTS - HUNTER OF THE PRAIRIE SEA

The Royal Saskatchewan Museum is proud to announce its new travelling exhibit, Hunter of the Prairie Sea, is now on display at the Swift Current Museum.

This exhibit features a 10-metre-long marine reptile called a tylosaur which was discovered along the south shore of Lake Diefenbaker in 1994. The tylosaur is nicknamed "Omācīw" which means hunter in Cree. In addition to the tylosaur, the exhibit introduces visitors to the marine environment that existed in Saskatchewan 70 million years ago.

"Our government is proud to see the first opening of this new travelling exhibit at the Swift Current Museum," Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Dustin Duncan said. "As this exhibit begins its travels throughout the province, it offers an incredible opportunity for residents and tourists to view this life-size replica of one of the creatures of Saskatchewan's ancient seas."

Since 2005, an exhibit featuring the skull of "Scotty" the Tyrannosaurus rex has been travelling to Saskatchewan destinations showcasing the province's dinosaur history. The "Scotty" exhibit has been well received and has resulted in increased visitation at host venues.

"This new travelling exhibit builds on the success of the Scotty exhibit," Royal Saskatchewan Museum Acting Director Harold Bryant said. "It will assist the RSM to achieve its goal of reaching outside the museum's four walls and engaging the people of Saskatchewan and visitors. It will also show people that not all of our province's large, spectacular fossils are dinosaurs."

The Royal Saskatchewan Museum's travelling exhibit program strengthens communities through education and cultural programming. The province's museums have enthusiastically responded to this exhibit and it is booked into 2012.

In 1906, the Provincial Museum (as the RSM was called then) was formed to "secure and preserve natural history specimens and objects of historical and ethnological interest". Since these early beginnings, The Royal Saskatchewan Museum has endeavoured to increase interest in and knowledge about Saskatchewan's natural history through its research, programs and exhibits. For more information visit www.royalsaskmuseum.ca.

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For more information, contact:

Penny Pedersen
Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport
Regina
Phone: (306) 798-8761
Email: penny.pedersen@gov.sk.ca