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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
several large sea monsters swimming in the ocean
First Floor | Temporary Exhibit

Sea Monsters Unearthed: Life in Angola’s Ancient Seas

Open Until 2023
Location map

When Giant Reptiles Rule

After the South Atlantic Ocean basin formed 120 million years ago, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs and sea turtles moved in and thrived along Africa’s southwest coast. Projecto PaleoAngola scientists have uncovered the fossils of these real-life sea monsters, shedding light on this period in Earth’s history—and on ocean ecosystems today. 

In this exhibit you can explore modern Angola’s fossil-filled cliffs, dive into Cretaceous Angola’s cool coastal waters, and learn about the evolutionary, geological, and environmental forces that shaped life in the ocean then and now.

Get up close to the fossil remains of giant reptiles that once ruled Angola’s waves.

A skeleton of a mosasaur
Did you know?

Some predatory mosasaurs ate other mosasaurs of their own species—making them cannibals!

Look For

A skeleton of a mosasaur
A full-size, 23-foot-long fossil reconstruction of a giant predatory mosasaur
a sea turtle fossil with an animated backdrop
An animated mural teeming with sea monsters from Angola’s 72-million-year-old ocean ecosystem
A fossil turtle skull
The fossil skull of the South Atlantic’s oldest species of sea turtle
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Things To Do

  • Touch the teeth of a shell-crushing mosasaur—and the oyster shell fragments it left in its wake.
  • Compare Angola’s ancient ocean ecosystems with today’s in a spinner interactive.
  • Snap a selfie with a massive mosasaur that’s ready to bite.

Illustrations Credit: Karen Carr Studio Inc. for the Paleo Angola Project and SeaMonsters Unearthed.

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