The Academy of Natural Sciences' newest exhibit features 375-million-year-old fossil

The newest exhibit at The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University will give visitors a glimpse into the world millions of years ago.

"Life Onto Land: The Devonian" centers around the crucial period of Earth’s evolution and the Devonian Period which was more than 350 million years ago. The exhibit features animation, giant murals and models, CT scans, rare fossils specimens and maps sharing key elements and discoveries of the Devonian.

The main attraction of the exhibit is a fossil of the Tiktaalik roseae, a 375-million-year-old finned vertebrate that has helped scientists piece together the evolution from fins to limbs.

The fossil was discovered in 2004 on Ellesmere Island in the Nunavut Territory of Canada by a team co-led by Academy scientist Ted Daeschler.

Daeschler retired from the Academy after 30 years of explorations and studies into Devonian-age fossil vertebrates.

“There is no better place to tell the story of the Devonian Period than the Academy,” Daeschler said in a news release. “The Academy is a leader in exploration and study of Devonian-age fossil vertebrates, and from Philadelphia, you can find Devonian rocks and fossils just a few hours' drive away. The fossils you will see in Life Onto Land, many of them from Pennsylvania, tell the story of YOU. Well before dinosaurs, this period was the first time we begin to see the origin of the body plan that is shared by all limbed vertebrates and the development of the land-based ecosystems on Earth that we all depend on.”

“In the way the stars of the night sky can put our own existence into perspective and renew appreciation of how our extraordinary world took shape within the vast cosmos,” Vice President, Experience and Engagement, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Marina McDougall said. “This exhibition will inspire fascination for how our own arms, fingers and toes evolved from fish fins, and today’s forests emerged from ecosystems that first came into being hundreds of millions of years ago during the Devonian.”

A new version of Tiktaalik is also on display at the exhibit. It was created by Tyler Keillor who has a history of preparing fossils, creating skeletal restorations and sculpting flesh reconstructions of prehistoric life.

In addition to the Tiktaalik, the exhibit presents plant and animal fossils that were collected in Devonian rocks worldwide, including Pennsylvania.

Additionally, there are Illustrations on display by Spanish artist Aina Bestard and Arcadia University Professor W. Scott Rawlins that show the evolution of plants and various specimens.

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"Life On Land" follows the recent opening of the "Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity" exhibit, which is open now through January 2024.

The academy is open Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information on all the exhibits and to purchase your tickets visit ansp.org.