Carnegie Science Center’s Rangos Omnimax Theater features the reptilian giants of land and sea all winter long in two larger-than-life films: Dinosaurs Alive! and Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure. Together with the new Dinosaurs in Their Time permanent installation at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, it’s clear: Pittsburgh has dinosaur fever!

Dinosaurs Alive! features a large cast of animated lizards, including Tarbosaurus (a close relative to T.Rex), Velociraptors, Protoceratops, Seismosaurs and more, “reincarnated” in stunningly realistic detail. The latest in digital technology brings moviegoers face-to-face with the earliest creatures and giant monsters that roamed the planet millions of years ago. Dinosaurs Alive! explores the lives of dinosaurs beyond the traditional imagery, examining complex social behaviors such as nesting, protection of young and group defense.

Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure investigates the relatively unexplored world of the “other dinosaurs,” those reptiles that lived beneath the water. Weaving together spectacular photorealistic animation and documentary footage from paleontological digs around the world, Sea Monsters brings to life the extraordinary marine reptiles that flourished millions of years ago in the giant inland sea that divided North America.

The film follows a family of Dolichorhynchops, known informally as “Dollies,” as they traverse ancient waters populated with extraordinary sea creatures; lizard-like reptiles called Platecarpus that swallowed their prey whole like snakes; Styxosaurus with necks nearly 20 feet long; and at the top of the food chain, the fearsome Tylosaurus.

Both Dinosaurs Alive! and Sea Monsters are remarkable visual journeys that also educate audiences on the “How do we know that?” side of paleontology, showing a variety of fossil digs and discoveries around the world. The films show how new fossils are found, place these discoveries in context of dinosaur finds over the past 100 years and discuss how fossils have opened windows onto dinosaur behavior.

So what’s with the reptile mania taking over our fair city? While there’s a lot of hype today, Pittsburgh’s paleonotological history is actually a direct result of Andrew Carnegie’s personal fascination with dinosaurs. The steel magnate began funding dinosaur digs in the American West starting in 1899. The first expedition, which was in Wyoming, led to the discovery of a massive skeleton of a never-before-seen species of Diplodocus. Affectionately known as Dippy, it was the first specimen displayed in Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s venerated Dinosaur Hall.

Dinosaurs in Their Time is the newest incarnation of the famous dinosaur exhibit. The recently-opened expansion transports visitors to the land of the dinosaurs, showcasing the giant beasts as living animals in active, engaging poses that are consistent with modern scientific conceptions of dinosaurs. The beasts are mounted in rich environments that include plants and animals that lived alongside the dinosaurs. A new area, the Cretaceous Seaway, includes remains of many of the species featured in Sea Monsters.

Dinosaurs Alive and Sea Monsters play daily at the Rangos Omnimax Theater through May 2008. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for children and seniors. Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh member tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children and seniors. For more information, visit www.CarnegieScienceCenter.org. For more information on Dinosaurs in Their Time, visit www.carnegiemnh.org.

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