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The latest Omnimax Show "Dinosaurs – Giants of Patagonia", will give people a unique opportunity to get a close to a real-life experience of the incredible size and strength of the creatures that once roamed the Earth.
"Dinosaurs" will be shown at the Hong Kong Space Museum from Monday (October 1) until March 31, 2008.
The film concentrates on the remarkable discoveries made in Patagonia, in the south of Argentina. Based on scientific discoveries, it carries audiences through the lives of two superb dinosaurs: Argentinosaurus, a giant herbivore that could weigh 100 tonnes and reach 35 metres in length, making it the biggest animal to walk the earth, and Giganotosaurus, a 15-metre long predator that was even bigger than the famous T-Rex.
Various theories about why the largest herbivore and the largest predator lived at roughly the same period and in the same territory in Patagonia are explored in the film. One theory is that up to 120 million years ago, South America separated from Africa and became an isolated world. Evolution followed a number of particular paths. A dry climate with colder nights could have favoured animals that retained their internal heat better because of their larger mass. But a simpler interpretation rests on a warm climate and a fertile land which provided all the vegetation.
Yet another theory suggests that large herbivores grew big enough to accommodate a larger stomach which required them to digest vegetation that was high in fibre and low in protein. Finally, large spans of flat space like Patagonia might lead naturally to be the home of Argentinosaurs.
The film also offers some possible explanations for the extinction of dinosaurs some 65 million years ago. Mammals became bigger and more competitive. These include the drifting isolated continents coming in to touch with each other thus facilitating the spread of new diseases, the climate growing colder and the destruction of vegetation probably caused by increased volcanic activities, and the destruction of forests in North and South America by comets.
In addition, the film reveals how dinosaurs are still with us today. Their descendants, much less fearsome, are all around us everyday. They are birds.
The 40-minute Omnimax Show, "Dinosaurs – Giants of Patagonia", will be screened daily at 3.50pm and 7.20pm at the museum's Stanley Ho Space Theatre. There will be an additional screening at 12.20pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The Space Museum is closed on Tuesdays (except public holidays).
Tickets are available at the Space Museum Box Office and at all URBTIX outlets for $24 (front stalls) and $32 (stalls). Full-time students, senior citizens and people with disabilities will receive a half-price concession.
The Space Museum is located at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. For further information, please call 2721 0226 or visit the museum's website at http://hk.space.musuem/.
Ends/Friday, September 28, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:38
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