Dino act a hit at Pink Palace

Even Elvis Presley and Bob Marley may not be as popular around the world as that most awe-inspiring of extinct celebrities, the Tyrannosaurus rex, which died out without a hit record or movie to its credit but has made up for 65 million years of lost time with a century's worth of press notices, products, pop-culture star turns and public appearances, in fossilized and robotic form.

Photo by Jim Weber

Gray McAlister, 11, of Milan, Tenn., says hello to a rubbernecking Apatosaurus robot, on display in the ''Dinosaurs and Sea Monsters'' exhibit at the Pink Palace.

Photo by Jim Weber

Photo by Jim Weber

Photo by Jim Weber

Such robotic stars as a T-rex (from top), a long-necked Apatosaurus and a Chasmosaurus mother and baby dominate the exhibit, but don't overlook cases of well-preserved Coon Creek fossils.

T. rex -- the genus was identified by paleontologists in 1905 -- draws crowds. "He says roooooawwwr," offered Noah Taylor, 4, a Vicksburg, Miss., youth who was among the many children at the Memphis Pink Palace Museum on a recent weekday for "Dinosaurs and Sea Monsters," the new exhibit at the museum at 3050 Central.

The exhibit showcases moving-and-roaring robotic re-creations of a T. rex and six other prehistoric species, including a long-necked Apatosaurus and baby; a spike-tailed Stegosaurus; and a Protoceratops family, with several youngsters emerging from their eggs.

A giant marine reptile known as a Mosasaurus wriggles atop an undersea diorama in one corner of the second-floor exhibit hall. The Mosasaurus was included because it's a local monster -- mosasaur fossils have been found at the Coon Creek excavation site about 90 miles east of Memphis, near Adamsville, Tenn.

The realistic-looking robotic monsters, created by Kokoro Dinosaurs of Japan, dominate the exhibit, but "Dinosaurs and Sea Monsters" also features several glass cases filled with Coon Creek fossils -- snails, turtles, clams, and mosasaur fragments -- that date back to 70.6 million years ago, when the Memphis area was under a thousand feet of water. The Pink Palace acquired the Coon Creek property in 1988, establishing the Coon Creek Science Center to harvest and preserve these fossils.

"We've amassed an enormous collection," said Roy Young, Pink Palace conservator, who has worked the Coon Creek site since 1970. "The key is abundance. It's a really big window into the past, with all these beautifully preserved marine fossils."

The Pink Palace offers visitors a peek through that window. Young, 62, who organized the fossil displays in the exhibit, said many of the ammonites, crustaceans, gastropods and other items never have been seen before by the public. "I wanted visitors to see a good variety of each class of animal. I was selective in picking some that are more charming than others -- some of the snails are very ornate, very delicate -- but also some that are more mundane," to show how some species hardly have evolved in millions of years.

There's much more where those came from: Young said Coon Creek will continue to yield buried treasure for many years to come, because fossils run about 40 feet deep on the 278-acre site.

Of course, ammonites (extinct mollusks) don't have the allure of dinosaurs. So in addition to the robot monsters, the exhibit includes several kid-friendly dino extras, including a "control box" that lets youngsters set off the roars emanating from a dinosaur and a "rub station" that allows kids to make take-home rubbings of various dino "picture plates."

Also on display is a stripped-down robotic skeleton, to reveal the mechanical and pneumatic engineering required to make the "dinosaurs" move.

"People are more sophisticated today, so we decided to go with the machine aspect, rather than to try and hide that," said Steve Masler, Pink Palace manager of exhibits.

The dinosaurs are almost certain to boost attendance for what already has been a top year for the Pink Palace. Ronda Cloud, museum marketing director, said attendance in May for the Pink Palace -- including the Planetarium, the IMAX theater and the offsite Lichterman Nature Center -- was 61,745, up from 46,978 in May of 2008.

Cloud said people may be skipping vacations for "staycations" this year, thanks to the pressures of the economy. "People are staying closer to home this summer, and I think they're rediscovering their own backyards," she said.

"Dinosaurs and Sea Monsters"

Though Sept. 20 at the Memphis Pink Palace Museum, 3050 Central. Tickets: $8.75, adults; $8.25 seniors (60 and older); $6.25 children (3-12); free for children under 3. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call 320-6362 or go to memphismuseums.org.

Other exhibits

"Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity," through Aug. 16. A look at the making and meaning of the brightly colored, geometrically patterned kente cloths of Ghana and Togo in Africa.

"Underground Memphis," a look into the lives of 19th-century Mid-Southerners, from the plantations to Beale Street, through Oct. 12.

Also at the Pink Palace: The Sharpe Planetarium ($4.50 adults, $4 seniors, $4 children, children under 3 free), featuring the shows "Supernova" and "Starlit Nights"; and the Crew Training International IMAX Theater ($8 adults, $7.25 seniors, $6.25 children to age 12, children under 3 free), featuring movies about mummies, the sea and the Grand Canyon.

The Pink Palace also operates the Lichterman Nature Center (5992 Quince, 767-7322) and the Coon Creek Science Center (McNairy County, Tenn., 320-6420).

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