MUSEUM PRESENTS NEW INTERPRETATION OF SASKATCHEWAN'S PAST

An exhibit depicting Saskatchewan 65 million years ago is re-opening at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina today. This is the first event of the Museum's centennial.

"This refurbished exhibit is based on scientific research on fossils in the collections at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum," Culture, Youth and Recreation Minister Joan Beatty said. "It highlights the importance of field research and scientific study in furthering our understanding of the history of our province and the significant role the museum has performed over the last 100 years."

As a result of this research, the interpretation of some of Saskatchewan's early history has changed.

In the early 1990s, Scotty, a skeleton of the carnivorous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex, was discovered in the Frenchman River Valley. In addition to this dinosaur, the quarry yielded a variety of other fossils, including a large number of plants.

"In the original mini-diorama, the environment was depicted as a closed, dense forest similar to forests found in southeast Asia today," Curator of Earth Sciences Dr. Harold Bryant said. "The scientific research on the plants from the T. rex quarry by the late Dr. Elisabeth McIver provided new information regarding plants living in Saskatchewan 65 million years ago and indicated that, in southwestern Saskatchewan, the habitat was more open and less densely forested."

In the new mini-diorama, the dinosaurs and other animals are depicted as living in a broad river valley vegetated primarily by broadleaf trees that lost their leaves during the winter. Although the climate was mild without winter frost, the trees would have dropped their leaves in the fall because of the low light levels during the short winter days. Coniferous trees and palms were also present.

The Royal Saskatchewan Museum is fully funded by the provincial government as part of its commitment to give the people of Saskatchewan an appreciation and understanding of our natural and cultural heritage.

The Royal Saskatchewan Museum is celebrating 100 years of discovering and showcasing this province's rich natural and human history.

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For More Information, Contact:

Penny Pedersen Culture, Youth and Recreation Regina Phone: (306) 787-2850