Carson Aquarium
The mecca of marine paleobiology, the state-of-the-art Rachel Carson Memorial Aquarium is home to over 100 species! This section is subdivided by time, starting at the very formation of the planet and ending just one hundred years ago.
PrecambrianThis section starts off with the origin of the planet's oceans. Trace the evolution of life's first 3 billion years, from stromatolites made of colonial bacteria to some of the first truly multicellular organisms - the Ediacaran biota.
Cambrian
Explore the myriad of fauna that arose during the Cambrian explosion! As these are generally very small, magnifying glasses and underwater cameras allow you to get a good view of these unique animals. Two larger lobopods are also on exhibit: the (relatively) famous Anomalocaris and the bizarre Tamisiocaris.
Ordovician
After the unique Cambrian fauna, remaining lineages began to resemble those today. This area showcases not only extinct relatives of living lineages, like fish, but also extinct offshoots like sea scorpions and graptolites. This section also allows you to touch the large trilobite Isotelus, which reaches a foot and a half long!
Silurian
Trilobites. So many trilobites. This section is home to ten species of trilobite from around the world. Other animals in this section include sea scorpions and the enigmatic Ainiktozoon.
Devonian
Devonian, the age of fishes. The great diversity of fish is not unappreciated - this area has many of them, from the tiny Materpiscis to our huge (but still juvenile) Dunkleosteus. Here you can also meet some of the first vertebrates to step onto land.
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous is an age well-known for its swampy forests and giant bugs, but it's also remarkable for unique aquatic fauna. This includes a great diversity of extinct cartilaginous fish related to sharks and ratfish, like Falcatus and Helicoprion, and the utterly bizzare lamprey relative Tullimonstrum.
Permian
The Permian section contains fish such as Listracanthus and Acanthodes and various odd Permian amphibians, including Platyhystrix and Diplocaulus. This section terminates with "The Great Dying", a mass extinction in which around 90% of all life on earth was wiped out.
Triassic
After the Permian extinction, life began to rebound. This section focuses on some of the lineages that did make it through, like lungfish and Saurichthyids. At this time, some of the first marine reptiles evolved - and this area has an exhibit on the diverse and bizarre marine reptiles of Triassic China.
Jurassic
The Jurassic has very well-known marine life. In fact, some of the first recognized marine fossils come from this time. Here, one can come face-to-face with two of the first named marine reptiles, Plesiosaurus and Ichthyosaurus. Also here is a tank for fish of the Solnhofen plattenkalk, a selection of ammonites and belemnites, and an aviary for Solnhofen shore pterosaurs.
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous seas are well-known for the animals of the Western Interior Seaway, and our Western Interior Seaway exhibit highlights the fish, toothed birds, and marine reptiles that lived in what is now central North America, as well as the corals and reef-building clams that lined the ocean floor. Other animals in this section include dwarf plesiosaurs and giant frogs.
Paleogene
The extinction at the end of the Cretaceous knocked several unique groups of marine reptiles into extinction. One group managed to spring up soon afterward in the void - penguins. This section has three large extinct penguins - Waimanu, Inkayacu, and Icadyptes. We promise, more will come to this section soon!
Neogene
The Neogene seas were filled with marine mammals, and this section houses some of the weirder ones. Meet the swimming sloth Thalassocnus, the small short-tusked walrus Imagotaria, and Paleoparadoxia, an aptly-named member of the enigmatic hippo-like Desmostylia. This area is also the hub for our rewilding programs for recently extinct frogs and seabirds.
Pterosaur Tides
Located on the west side of the aquarium is a large aviary, a rocky coast melded with the surrounding sea. This area houses two seagoing pterosaurs, Pteranodon and a smaller species of Anhanguera.
Trench of the Mosasaur
Our Mosasaurus, Big Blue, gets a sea pen all to herself. On some weekday mornings you can take a boat into the sea pen and watch us feed her!
Megatooths
Yes, we have C. megalodon, the largest shark ever. Or at least, one that will be. She and our C. angustidens are still babies. For now, they live in a tank in the Neogene section, but when they grow up they'll get a sea pen like Big Blue.