American Museum of Natural History Announces New Crocodile Exhibit

By Linda DiProperzio March 29, 2016

While visitors to the American Museum of Natural History are enjoying its current exhibit, Dinosaurs Among Us, the staff is busy at work on its next one, opening in May: Crocs: Ancient Predators in a Modern World, according to a Museum press release.

The exhibit will explore the lives of crocodilians, such as crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials, teaching visitors about their evolutionary history, biology, behavior and precarious relationships with human societies. And there’s so much to learn, with crocs flourishing for more than 200 million years!

There will also be live crocodiles to encounter, including the Siamese crocodile (among the most endangered of the species), the American alligator, an African dwarf crocodile and an African slender-snouted crocodile. The exhibition will also include life-sized dioramas featuring models of the Australian freshwater crocodile, Cuvier’s dwarf caiman, Indian gharial and Estuarine (saltwater) crocodile.

Visitors can also test their strength against a croc in an interactive display, learn how to speak “croc,” get up close to a model of Gomek, the largest crocodile ever exhibited in the Western Hemisphere, and test their crocodilian IQ with fun facts and croc trivia. Interactives allow visitors to ask questions of the croc and fossil experts, including Mark Norell, curator of Crocs and chair and Macaulay Curator in the Museum’s Division of Paleontology.

Crocs: Ancient Predators in a Modern World will open on May 28, 2016, and will close on January 2, 2017.