Behind-the-scenes look at the new ‘Ancient Life’ exhibit opening at New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science gave members of the media a behind-the-scenes look at its new exhibit called " Ancient Life ," which will showcase life in New Mexico more than 250 million years ago, known as a time before the dinosaurs.

The exhibit, set to open in January, will feature around 300 fossils collected over the past 30 years from various locations in New Mexico. "So it's some of New Mexico's first fossil record, showcasing probably about seven or eight different environments that were here in New Mexico at that time. We know this from the rocks around the state and the fossils preserved in them," said Matt Celeskey, curator of exhibits at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science.

Some of those environments that were once present in New Mexico include ancient seas, beaches, coastal areas, jungles, swamps, and inland river valleys located hundreds of miles away from the sea, according to Dr. Spencer Lucas, curator of paleontology and curator of the new exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science.

Story continues below

News: New video shows scene BCSO deputies showed up to after Tijeras triple homicide

Trending: 'Rumor' and 'coincidence' complicate discovery of human skulls in Jal

Events: What's happening around New Mexico November 15-21

Crime: Police ID victim in fatal downtown shooting as tattoo shop owner

The exhibit will depict some of the creatures that roamed the earth during that time.

"We've got some of the most amazing fossils I've ever had the pleasure to work with, including a complete shark from the Manzano Mountains that was buried there about 305 million years ago. We also have a life-size model showing what that shark looked like when it was alive," Celeskey explained. "We'll have footprints from a six-foot-long millipede that was running around north of Española. We have the skeleton of a sail-backed plant-eater named Gordodon, whose only fossils have been found down at Alamogordo."

Other fossils include those of the oldest tree-climbing reptile, called Eoscansor, the oldest discovered fossil in New Mexico: a trilobite fossil from around 500 million years ago discovered near the Caballo Mountains, remnants of plants, trees, and more.

The "Ancient Life" exhibit will also feature replicas of some of the fossils that visitors will be able to touch. The curators hope the exhibit will not only educate people, but inspire people to be curious about the world around them. "New Mexico, acre per acre, is practically the most fossiliferous place on Earth," said Lucas, also adding, "And so our intention is to present something that you cannot see anywhere else, which is the ancient life or Paleozoic history of New Mexico."

During the Paleozoic Era, life crawled out of the sea for the first time, and amphibians, reptiles, and arthropods all evolved. The era ended with the Permian extinction, the largest extinction event in known history, which eventually paved the way for dinosaurs to evolve, according to the museum .

"Ancient Life" is the first major exhibit hall to open at the museum in about 16 to 17 years. It is replacing "Origins Hall" on the second floor of the museum and marks the first renovation of this space since 1987, just a year after the museum opened to the public.