December 2, 2010

AMHERST, Mass. – When paleontologists tell you that Tyrannosaurus rex ate meat and Triceratops ate plants, did you ever wonder how they know? The Amherst College Museum of Natural History has installed an exhibition that answers that very question. At the museum until Jan. 2, Tell Me What You Eat… can be viewed any time the museum is open: Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursday evenings from 6 to 10 p.m.

Tell Me What You Eat... looks at the clues that particular animals left about what they consumed. This includes evidence such as tooth size and shape, preserved stomach contents and even fossilized feces. There are three parts of the exhibition to explore: a display case filled with fossils and modern animals, a self-guided tour around the galleries and a microscope station where visitors can examine casts of animal teeth for tiny markings that reveal what they were eating in the days before they died.

Tell Me What You Eat... is free and open to the public. For more information, go to the museum’s website (www.amherst.edu/museums/naturalhistory) for more details.

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