AN exhibition of lean, mean prehistoric killing machines opens in Lake Macquarie on Saturday.
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Just don’t call them dinosaurs.
Creatures such as the giant crocodilian predator deinosuchus that form part of a fascinating new exhibition at SEEN@Swansea are often mistaken for dinosaurs, but their fossilised remains tell a different story.
Lake Macquarie City Council’s cultural services manager Jacqui Hemsley said the aptly named Dinosaur Imposters showcased prehistoric reptiles, mammals and other animals often found in the pages of dinosaur books.
The exhibition will feature more than 200 items.
They range from tiny trilobite fossils to full-size partial casts of a woolly rhino, deinosuchus and great white shark ancestor megalodon.
“Contrary to popular belief, not every giant or bizarre-looking prehistoric animal was a dinosaur,” Ms Hemsley said.
“Mammoths and woolly rhinos were in fact mammals, while dimetrodons – common inclusions in dino playsets – were actually a reptile that roamed Earth well before the age of dinosaurs.
“Prehistoric oceans were teeming with giant marine reptiles and above the dinosaurs soared pterosaurs – the first reptiles capable of flight.
“This exhibition will give visitors a sense of this diversity and teach them more about our world hundreds of millions of years ago.”
Previously at SEEN@Swansea
Amateur Lake Macquarie palaeontologist Michael Dawson, who contributed items to the exhibition, said the past five years had seen a resurgence of interest in prehistoric fauna.
“Almost every kid now knows dinosaurs – they can name just about all of them,” Mr Dawson said.
“I do talks in schools and I’m frequently being corrected by the children I speak to.”
Mr Dawson said that while creatures such as deinosuchus – an apex predator that grew to more than 10 metres long – resembled dinosaurs, they had some important differences.
“This exhibition is designed to shine a light on those differences, and demonstrate how each of these creatures was just as fascinating in its own way as a T-rex or stegosaurus.”
The exhibition will open to the public on Saturday from 10am.
Dinosaur Imposters will run until Sunday, February 3.
Entry is by gold coin donation.
Lake Mac Libraries will host a range of Dinosaur Imposters-themed activities and storytime sessions throughout the school holidays. Go to library.lakemac.com.au/events for more information.
SEEN@Swansea is open seven days, from 10am to 3pm.