By Marc Stevens
BYU''s Earth Science Museum has a new exhibit featuring a fully mounted skeleton of Torvosaurus tanneri, a large carnivorous dinosaur.
The 33 foot long skeleton is the first to be displayed in any museum, said Ken Stadtman, museum curator.
According to display information, the Torvosaurus lived about 148 million years ago during the late Jurassic Period.
The Torvosaurus bones were first collected in Colorado in 1972 by BYU paleontologists, according to the display. The skeleton is cast from original fossils belonging to the museum.
Movies like the new 'Jurassic Park 3' and Disney''s 'Dinosaur' help renew interest in dinosaurs, especially for younger visitors, Stadtman said.
'The kids that come into the museum will use words or names they''ve heard in the movies,' he said. 'They''re relating the two.'
Stadtman said the dinosaur behavior depicted in movies is largely conjecture.
Dinosaur bones and skeletons can help us reconstruct their bodies, but how they acted is still mostly a mystery, he said.
The Torvosaurus display is a permanent exhibit, and is part of a collection that includes ice-age mammals and ancient forms of sea life.
The Earth Science Museum offers guided and self-guided tours, and admission is free. For more information, call 378-3680.