ROYAL SASKATCHEWAN MUSEUM LAUNCHES THIRD TRAVELLING EXHIBIT

Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Kevin Doherty announced today that the Royal Saskatchewan Museum's (RSM) third travelling exhibit - featuring Big Bert, an ancient fossil crocodile discovered in 1991 along the banks of the Carrot River - will be displayed in the museum's lobby during October and November, before beginning its tour of Saskatchewan.

"The travelling exhibits bring a part of the RSM to locations across our great province, so that everyone can experience a piece of our province's past and a piece of history," Doherty said.

This exhibit shows how Tim Tokaryk from the RSM discovered this almost six metre-long crocodile. Big Bert and several other fossil casts and displays show what life was like 92 million years ago when an inland sea covered much of Saskatchewan. The exhibit is hands-on and interactive - visitors can virtually flesh out the crocodile and spin him in any direction to get up close and personal, or even e-mail a picture of themselves swimming with Big Bert and other sea creatures from his time.

The other two RSM travelling exhibits feature the skull of "Scotty," the 65-million-year-old T.rex, discovered in Eastend in 1991, and "Omaciw," a prehistoric marine reptile called a Tylosaur, discovered along the south shore of Lake Diefenbaker in 1994. Tylosaurs swam in Saskatchewan waters approximately 72 million years ago.

Scotty's skull is currently displayed at the Wadena Museum, but will soon travel to Carlyle, where it will be showcased inside the Rusty Relic Museum from October 20 until March 20. Omaciw is educating guests at the Great Sandhills Museum in Sceptre right now, but will travel to Prince Albert soon, where it will be displayed at the Alfred Jenkins Field House from November 8 until April 16.

"We are happy to be able to expand our travelling exhibits program to include Big Bert," RSM Director Harold Bryant said. "Big Bert is such an important find for our province and our museum. He is the world's most complete skeleton of this type of crocodile. He continues to inform our scientists about Saskatchewan's ancient past."

The RSM, founded in 1906, aims to increase interest in and knowledge of Saskatchewan's natural and cultural history through its research, exhibits and programs. The RSM is open every day from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Admission is by donation. To learn more about Big Bert and the other travelling exhibits, visit www.royalsaskmuseum.ca.

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For more information, contact:

Sean St. George
Parks, Culture and Sport
Regina
Phone: 306-787-9087
Email: sean.stgeorge@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-526-8635