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Denver Museum of Nature & Science announces Mammoths and Mastodons. Titans of the Ice Age

Denver Museum of Nature & Science presents Mammoths and Mastodons. Titans of the Ice Age, an exhibition on view from February 15.

Life-size models of awe-inspiring Ice Age animals, fossil tusks and skulls, interactive videos, and hands-on activities bring this fascinating time in Earth history back to life. Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age is presented in Denver by Delta Dental.

Visitors will examine the differences between mammoths—beasts weighing up to eight tons, bearing tusks up to 16 feet long—and mastodons, their shorter, stockier cousins. The 13,000-square-foot exhibition also looks at the role human predation, climate change, and other factors may have played in the eventual extinction of these giants.

The exhibition includes a replica of Lyuba, a 42,000-year-old baby mammoth. Discovered in 2007 by a Siberian reindeer herder and his sons, Lyuba is by far the best-preserved mammoth specimen ever discovered. Visitors will learn how the science behind Lyuba enhances our understanding of the evolution of mammoths and their modern-day elephant relatives, which are facing their own struggle for survival today.

Also showcased are rare and evocative objects and images, such as spear points, cave paintings, and other prehistoric art, that bring to life how humans interacted with mammoths and mastodons.

Local visitors will enjoy a point of pride for Coloradans as they relive the story of the Snowmastodon Project®, the exceptional Ice Age fossil site unearthed near Snowmass Village in 2010. Visitors will have the opportunity to see a selection of fossils on display for the first time, watch a new educational video about the discovery, and hear about the science that is emerging from the study of this historic site. In addition, exhibition visitors can watch as Museum volunteers clean and prepare fossils from various Colorado dig sites. www.dmns.org

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