Museum prepares for 'Extreme Mammals' invasion

OCTOBER 17, 2013 (AUSTIN, TX) – The amazing 300-million-year history of fossil and living mammals will be unveiled at the Bullock Texas State History Museum this fall, and museum staff are busy preparing to install what will be the largest exhibition in its history.

Extreme Mammals: The Biggest, Smallest and Most Amazing Mammals of All Time opens in the Bullock Museum's Herzstein Hall beginning November 23, 2013, and staff members have been planning for months in order to accommodate the blockbuster traveling natural history show during its only stop in Texas.

Exhibit elements and artifacts in 11 trucks will begin arriving in Austin the week of Oct. 21. Two trucks a day will be unloaded at the Bullock Museum as staff begins the monumental task of installation. The unpacking and installation may be followed on social media – the museum's Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts – beginning in late October.

"The Bullock Museum is the only museum in Central Texas large enough to host an exhibit of this magnitude," Margaret Koch, director of exhibits, said. "Many of the specimens are related to Texas, and it's difficult to tell our incredible Texas history without paying attention to our natural environment. We're excited to be able to host this exhibition for our members, visitors and the community."

When the exhibition opens Nov. 23, visitors will experience the most astonishing mammals to roam the Earth. Some with tongues weighing four tons, and other mammals as small as a bumblebee. Meet creatures with gigantic claws, massive fangs and strange snouts. See the largest land mammal that has ever lived, the oldest fossilized bat ever discovered, and the smallest mammal known in the fossil record. And, discover living and extinct Texas mammals that are part of the Story of Texas.

Highlights of Extreme Mammals include a 15-ft tall, life-size re-creation of an Indricotherium, the largest land mammal to walk on land, as well as the smallest mammal known in the fossil record, the rodent-like Batodonaides. Attractions also include taxidermy specimens, from the egg-laying platypus, to the recently extinct Tasmanian wolf. Visitors can examine fleshed-out models of spectacular extinct forms such as Ambulocetus, a "walking whale" and an entire skeleton of the giant hoofed plant-eater Uintatherium.

"We at the Bullock Museum are pleased to offer this rare look into the natural history of Texas that spans millions of years. This exceptional story of adaptation and change in the animal world provides a unique theme for the museum's first major exhibition in the realm of natural science," Director Joan Marshall said.

Extreme Mammals is organized by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; Cleveland Museum of Natural History; and the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada.

For information about this upcoming exhibition, visit www.thestoryoftexas.com/extrememammals, or call (512) 936-4649.

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​​The Bullock Texas State History Museum, a division of the State Preservation Board and an accredited institution of the American Alliance of Museums, creates experiences that educate, engage, and encourage a deeper understanding of Texas. With dynamic, award-winning exhibitions that illuminate Texas history, people, and culture, educational programming for all ages, and an IMAX® theater with a screen the size of Texas, the Museum collaborates with more than 700 museums, libraries, archives, organizations, and individuals across the world to bring the Story of Texas to life. For more information, visit www.TheStoryofTexas.com or call (866)369-7108.