An exhibition opening this week at the Natural History Museum (NHM) of Los Angeles County in the western U.S. State of California, reveals the prehistoric side of the city that was once submerged by the ocean through a variety of fossils.
As reported by Xinhua, Monday, a multimedia and immersive exhibition with the theme “L.A. Underwater: the Prehistoric Sea Beneath Us” explores the underwater world of Los Angeles as much of the LA area is submerged beneath the waves of the Pacific Ocean.
Visitors can observe nearly 40 fossils formed over 90 million years while LA was still under the sea. They can explore life-size prehistoric animals such as a shark larger than a city bus, and encounter holograms of extinct squid-like animals that swam across Los Angeles 74 million years ago when huge dinosaurs still roamed the Southern California coast.
Many of these fossils were found by ordinary people in Los Angeles, from construction workers to residents around the museum. The locally found fossils help scientists understand the city’s past and present topography, organizers told Xinhua.
Matt Davis, a vertebrate paleontologist and exhibition developer at NHM, told Xinhua that the exhibition shows people how dynamic the Earth is. The landscape of Los Angeles is changing dramatically.
“With climate change, sea levels in LA have risen and could sink places like Long Beach or Venice within the next 100 years,” Davis said.
“We hope this exhibition will really show people how much the Earth can change. All nature is right under their feet and they can find fossils in their environment,” Davis told Xinhua.