“Whenever I look at a bone, I always see the fingerprints of the god who amused himself with sculpting it.” Pablo Picasso
THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD
from 140 million to
65 million years ago
Marking the appearance of flowers, the fertile Cretaceous period was named for vast deposits of chalk (creta in Latin), rich in fossils and widely distributed throughout the world. The distribution of the continents was beginning to resemble that of the present, although a great shallow sea flowing from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico separated the supercontinent of Laurasia into Asiamerica (East Asia and Western North America) and Euramerica (Europe and Eastern North America). Marked by a rich emergence of advanced dinosaurs, the Late Cretaceous, 75 million years ago, was a time of tremendous volcanic upheaval as mountain ranges and new islands were being formed. The drifting of the continents toward the polar regions brought on significant changes in the seasonal weather. No longer able to roam between the continents, many of the later dinosaurs evolved exclusively in Asiamerica. The dominant creatures of the period, most species lasted no more than 5 million years before disappearing from the fossil record, often followed by more advanced descendants. This period lasted until 65 million years ago, ending with a catastrophic mass-extinction second only to that of the Permian. Nearly half of all the Cretaceous plants and animals, both marine and terrestrial, suddenly vanished. Among them were the dinosaurs.
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Order Saurischia,
Suborder Theropoda
Oviraptor philoceratops
Late Cretaceous, Mongolia
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In Mongolia in 1922, an Expedition from the American Museum of Natural History led by Roy Chapman Andrews set out to find remnants of early humankind. Instead they discovered several nests of Oviraptor (“Egg Thief”) eggs, the first dinosaur eggs ever located, in what must have been a large nesting ground. Like birds, dinosaurs fed their young by regurgitating food into their mouths. |
Because skeletons of the small, frilled dinosaur Protoceratops were found in association with the nests, the eggs were long attributed to them. More recent expeditions have uncovered a fossil female Oviraptor (a small, beaked, and toothless theropod) actually sitting on a clutch of unhatched eggs, revealing that Protoceratops was the intruder. From the historic Roy Chapman Andrews Gobi Expedition. Alf Museum |
Order Ornithischia,
Suborder Ceratopsia
Protoceratops andrewsi
Late Cretaceous, Mongolia
Regarded as the earliest known horned dinosaur (although it only possessed small crests where the great horns of its giant descendants would be), this exquisite skull of an adult individual is from the Polish Mongolian expedition.
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MoAW is a 501(c)(3)
Tax-Exempt Organization
Members of the
California Association of Museums (CAM)
and the American Alliance of Museums (AAM)
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Next Week:
Do you have a favorite piece at MoAW you would like to see highlighted in our weekly email? You can visit www.moaw.org, see the collections tab, visit the catalogs and state your choice on the link below.
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Help MoAW reopen during the pandemic.
After shuttering MoAW on 3 separate occasions for 2020. being closed more often than open, and with rising rates of infection, Riverside County moved back to Stay At Home Orders. Help MoAW and other Riverside County businesses reopen. The more people adhere to protocols, get tested, and stay at home, the better for state-wide statistics.
Riverside County offers free testing at several sites, call Riverside County Health to schedule your test,
1-888-634-1123
Thank You
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Members Perks
So many reasons to join MoAW, you help keep the museum open, allow us to acquire new artifacts, plan and present programs including the Second Friday Fantasy, and help local students learn about ancient civilizations and human origins.
For all that you do to help us we thank you in many ways:
- Unlimited free admission for one year
- Free Guest Passes (see Membership levels for details)
- Invitations to Members-Only exhibition receptions and programs
- Priority registration and discounts on programs and special events
- Special rental rates for hosting events (see membership levels for details)
- Copies of exhibition catalogs (see Membership levels for details)
- Unique travel opportunities through the Museum Travel Alliance
During the initial phase of "The Pause" we offered new members two extra months with membership. While we are back in "The Pause" we are offering this again. Current memberships will be extended by the amount of time we are closed and new members, 14 months of membership will start when we reopen. Click below for more information and to join.
Thank you.
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FACES OF AFRICA:
A Mystical View of
Tribal Heritage
(38 Replica Masks and Sculptures)
On View at the
Museum of Ancient Wonders
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TUTANKHAMUN:
"Wonderful Things"
Treasures From The Pharaoh's Tomb
(124 Egyptian replicas)
On view at the
Museum of Ancient Wonders
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MESOZOICA:
The Age of Dinosaurs
(Approximately 100 fossil cast dinosaur elements and fully-mounted skeletons from around the world.)
On view at the
Museum of Ancient Wonders
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LUCY:
The Story of Human Origins
(Courtesy of the Institute of Human Origins and the National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa)
On view exclusively at the
Museum of Ancient Wonders
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