麻豆传媒AV

Two travelling exhibits are on display at the Western Development Museum.

Scotty's Skull and Omaciw - Hunter of the Prairie Sea are on loan to the WDM from the Royal Saskatchewan Museum for six months.

MLA Herb Cox and WDM board of directors member Dave Whitehead were on hand to cut the bone rope to unveil the two exhibits.

"Travelling exhibits are wonderful extensions of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum," Cox said. "It gives an opportunity for a lot of people to see what they maybe wouldn't have an opportunity to see in the Royal Saskatchewan Museum."

The WDM has hosted several travelling exhibits from the Royal Saskatchewan Museum over the years, said Whitehead.

"Visitors to the WDM here can get up close and personal with pieces of Saskatchewan's ancient natural history, part of our past not normally seen at the WDM."

Scotty, Saskatchewan's only Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, was found in the Frenchman River Valley in 1991. Under the direction of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, excavation began in 1994 and was completed in 2003. Approximately 65 per cent of Scotty's skeleton has been excavated. The replica of the skull measures in at 1.33 metres, containing 50 teeth.

Omaciw, pronounced oo-match-ee-ow, is a 10-metre long Tylosaurus discovered on the south shore of Lake Diefenbaker in 1994. The name Omaciw means hunter in Cree.

"Omaciw was perfectly suited to adapt to the sea life that existed from 75 to 85 million years ago in Saskatchewan when the entire province was under water," said Tim Tokaryk, curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum.

The Omaciw exhibit also educates visitors on the marine environment in Saskatchewan 72 million years ago.

North Battleford Mayor Ian Hamilton said these exhibits are another reason the Battlefords are a destination for tourism.

"I have a six-year-old grandson that's really into this stuff," added Hamilton. "I can't wait to bring him out here and just watch him go crazy over this."

Battleford Mayor Derek Mahon said he was excited for the temporary additions to the museum as he is a "real big fan of dinosaurs," spending time at various dinosaur exhibits.

The WDM plans to add to the travelling exhibits in the future. They are currently working to secure Big Bert for the fall of 2015. Big Bert is a 5.6-metre ancient crocodile discovered by Tokaryk on the banks of Carrot River in the Pasquia Hills in 1991.