A new exhibit at the MSU Museum, "Tanzania in Deep Time - A View from the Rift Valley," details ongoing research into the "deep time" history of East Africa and how it relates to the broader story of large-scale movements of the Earth's continental plates. The exhibit will be on view in the museum's West Gallery from May 10 to Dec. 31.

Paleontologists investigating how continental plate movements have affected the evolution and distribution of plants and animals are especially interested in the Cretaceous Period, approximately 90-100 million years ago. Fossils unearthed from this distant time help tell the story of how, when, and from where the ancient ancestors of today's animals reached their present-day homes, and where their closest relatives lived.

"Tanzania in Deep Time - A View from the Rift Valley" documents an ongoing research project involving MSU and other institutions that has produced a series of exciting fossil discoveries from the Rukwa Rift Basin of western Tanzania, in East Africa. Geological activity along the Great Rift produces valleys that serve as basins for collecting sediments that erode from higher areas - sometimes containing animal and plant fossils.

For more information, call (517) 355-2370 or visit http://museum.msu.edu .

###