Impact: The End of the Age of Dinosaurs explores the striking before-and-after story of the asteroid impact 66 million years ago that annihilated non-avian dinosaurs, along with 75 percent of the plant and animal species on the planet, and opened the door for new ecosystems and animals to evolve.

Featuring fossils and fossil casts, life-size models, dramatic dioramas, an immersive animation, and engaging interactives, Impact reveals the latest scientific understanding of this cataclysmic event, taking visitors through a story of extinction, survival, recovery, and adaptation spanning millions of years.

Highlights of the exhibition include:

• Life-size models of a 27-foot-long mosasaur—among the most fearsome and widespread marine reptiles of the Cretaceous—attacking a long-necked plesiosaur measuring 30 feet
• Touchable exhibits, including a cast of a mosasaur tooth, a real fossil of a Triceratops toe, a cast of Triceratops skin, and a fossil ammonite
• A stunning diorama showing the rich diversity of Cretaceous life in what is now the western United States, including intricate life-size models of a Triceratops and a recently discovered hook-handed insect-eating dinosaur called Trierarchuncus prairiensis, as well as other members of their ecosystem, including turtles, frogs, and even a predatory mammal—Didelphodon—that might have eaten small dinosaurs and other animals
• An immersive panoramic video experience that visualizes the moment the asteroid struck the Earth, and the earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, near-total darkness, and acid rain that followed
• A digital game that invites visitors to take a personality quiz that assigns them a lineage from the Cretaceous—and, later in the exhibition, to find out which ones persisted after the impact
• Life-size models of the largest and smallest land mammals that ever lived and are now extinct: Indricotherium, which weighed more than three times as much as an African elephant; and Batodonoides, which weighed less than 1 gram (0.04 oz)
• A digital interactive exhibit that introduces visitors to the sophisticated tools used to track near-Earth objects today and allows “testing” of a deflection technology that may help prevent another asteroid impact
• Video stories highlighting how conservation action can protect against ongoing biodiversity loss, including controlling introduced species, protecting habitats, and regulating industry
• A layered collage by artist Clare Celeste Börsch that celebrates the beauty and diversity of life on Earth, while acknowledging the urgent reality of species loss