Time running out to see ‘Tusks!’ at museum

This weekend is the last opportunity for Southern Nevadans to explore the Ice Age exhibit that has called the Las Vegas Natural History Museum home this summer.

"Tusks! Ice Age Mammoths and Mastodons," a collection of 80 fossil specimens, replicas and artifacts, concludes its four-month stay at the local museum, 900 Las Vegas Blvd. North, on Sunday.

Visitors learn how scientists collect and study fossils, how research of ancient climates is conducted and what is known about why proboscideans -- large beasts named for their long, flexible trunks -- became extinct in North America 10,000 years ago.

The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. General admission is $8; $7 for students age 12 and older, seniors age 55 and older and military; and $4 for children age 3-11. Children younger than 3 are admitted free. For details, call 384-3466.

Proboscideans originated in North Africa and Southeastern Asia. The first to arrive in North America 15 million years ago included mastodons, shoveltuskers, spiraltuskers and gomphotheres, with mammoths arriving about 4 million years ago.