Downtown Exhibit Features Prehistoric Crocodile That Ate Dinosaurs

From NewsChannel 9: Downtown Exhibit Features Prehistoric Crocodile That Ate Dinosaurs
One-hundred-and-ten million years ago, a crocodile the size of a school bus that ate dinosaurs used to roam in Africa. The Sarcosuchus Imperator, or Supercroc, was one of the largest crocodilians to ever walk the earth. And now a Downtown museum is giving you the opportunity to find out about this incredible creature up close and personal.

"The dinosaurs were afraid of them because these guys lived in marshy areas and so when a dino got in a marshy area they were at a disadvantage," said Lynx Exhibits co-owner Mike Churchman.

Lynxs Exhibit in Downtown El Paso is bringing a prehistoric creature to life. We were there as staff members began putting the display together. "It's been about 12-15 years ago that they discovered the fossils and then they've done a lot of studies on crocodilians. They've done a lot of study on crocodilians to try and determine what he looked like," said Churchman.

And now you can learn about this reptile that weighed 16,000 lbs., measured 40 feet and ate about 500 lbs. in one sitting. "This is an opportunity that's never been here before. It's not your dinosaurs done over again. It's very fun, very interesting, very scientific," said Churchman.

Supercroc's strength was able to take on dinosaurs that were two or three times his size.
One of one of the rooms feature a model of a real-life super croc. "Our visitors can come and lay along the wall, on the bench, they can see how many it would take to fit inside the length of a super croc," said Churchman.

Churchman says he's proud to bring this latest display to the Sun City. "Lynx Exhibits prides itself in bringing world-class exhibits to the El Paso area, something we don't always have the opportunity to see," said Churchman.

Besides have the skeleton and flesh models to look at there's plenty of interactive activities. "An archeological tent where you can actually do archeological experiments and digs. Of course we've got rubbing stations where they can do real fossils," said Churchman.

And something else you can do while you're there is check out the alligator pit. Staff members will retrieve one of the reptiles from the water and even let you pet them. At another station you can meet the Sachymos - a dinosaur that hunted Super Croc. "We'll have a full-size skeleton that people will be able to manipulate him with a controller and move him in various poses," said Churchman.

Mike is hopes people in the Borderland take advantage of this opportunity to see a world-class exhibit that's one-of-a-kind. "You hear so often, there's nothing to do here and we're kind of like a hidden gem. People don't realize we're right here," said Churchman.

Lynx Exhibits is located at 300 West San Antonio. The exhibit is open monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for military, students and seniors, $6 dollars for children 4 to 11 years old and free for children under 3 years of age.

The exhibit will be on display through May 28th. For more information, visit lynxexhibits.com.