Sternberg Museum of
Natural History
Sternberg Museum of
Natural History
Location: In the city of Hays, take Exit 159 and follow the signs.
Contact: ph. 785/628-4286 or 1/800-569-4505 or visit the Sternberg Museum Website
A
flesh-eating Dinosaur suddenly comes to life as you walk past it
in this realistic display at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. It
does so with sufficient surprise to amuse adults and scare kids . A
lot of work has been done here to recreate a world that was Kansas in the
prehistoric past. It was a time when inland seas covered much of the area
and huge reptiles roamed the land while other reptiles flew overhead.
Perhaps
the most famous fossil in the Sternberg Collection is this
fossilized "Fish-Within-A-Fish". The larger fish had consumed the smaller
fish just before it's death and subsequent fossilization.
The
museum also has displays on how the fossils were collected.
It was hard and painstaking work done many miles from the comforts of home.
They worked out in the open exposed to the heat and cold. At the end of a
hard day's work, they would return to camp, often just a tent, and sometimes
water would have to be carried over a mile to the camp--certainly not the
glamorous or romantic image portrayed in the movies. Still, it was through
the hard work and sacrifices of people like the Sternbergs that our museums
today have the fossil displays that they have, but more importantly they helped
build our knowledge of this fascinating time of living giants.