Fast Break
'Darkness' sheds light on polar dinosaurs

	BETTY UDESEN / THE SEATTLE TIMES Raul Vacca is dwarfed by a "Dinosaurs of Darkness" exhibit at the Burke Museum as he attaches the ribs on a Gallimimus skeleton.
	E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

Two hundred million years ago, Earth's polar regions were warmer than they are today but were often below freezing, and as now, were in darkness most of the winter. Difficulties of fossil-hunting in polar tundra have only recently been overcome. The result: fossils of the dinosaurs that used unique adaptations to endure harsher conditions than dinosaurs in other parts of the world. The exhibit includes complete skeletons, skulls, eggs, nests, mummies, teeth and bones, as well as paintings, models and videos to provide a fascinating look at these prehistoric animals. This Saturday, Target Dinosaurs! highlights the new exhibit with tours, fossil-hunting demonstrations and a Women in Geology panel to inform and inspire girls and women interested in careers in science. Dr. Patricia Vickers-Rich, paleontologist, author and curator of the exhibit at its home in Australia, is the featured guest.

The exhibit opens today and continues through Oct. 10 at the Burke Museum, at the corner of Northeast 45th Street and 17th Avenue Northeast on the campus of the University of Washington, Seattle; open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, and until 8 p.m. Thursdays. Admission is $4-$6.50. For more information: 206-543-5590 or www.burkemuseum.org

— Madeline McKenzie, Seattle Times staff

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company