Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Old Fossils

I find dinosaur fossils fascinating. It's a common trait among many people.


Duck-billed dinosaurs, represented in this section of the gallery, were widespread herbivores.


Maiasaura is a duck billed dinosaur whose name literally means good mother lizard. A change from the early days of paleontology, when dinosaurs were characterized as vicious lizards. Time changes perspectives.


A reproduced nest of maiasaura is found here.


Overhead, a big turtle- or to be exact, a predecessor to the various contemporary species. We'll get another look at it tomorrow.

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Hello Beastie

A reminder to those in the area that Winterlude will be wrapping up over the weekend. And yes, I have been taking pictures and will continue to do so.

The Fossil Gallery is the last gallery inside the Museum of Nature, and the first specimen one sees in here is daspletosaurus, a relative of tyrannosaurus rex. The white cast model in the background is another predator, carnotaurus.


Most of the collection here are real fossils, augmented here and there with casts.


Dinosaurs were big and small, including therapods, some of whom were hunters, the wolves of their era.


This is a coprolite- fossilized dinosaur dung.


This panel gives us information on the carnotaurus above it.


Fossils are found around the world, but some places have more to be found than others.


Here we have a comparison of herbivore and carnivore- the lower jaws of edmontosaurus at left and the daspletosaurus at right.


Edmontosaurus had a wide range.

Monday, February 10, 2025

The Stand Off

 Mammals communicate to each other and to other species in a multitude of ways. The photo accompanying this panel shows that vividly. 


The pika is a resident of mountainous terrain, and very territorial.


Some mammals are loners. Others are herd or pack animals.


A stand off occupies the last of the large dioramas. Muskoxen of the Arctic stand facing a lone sled dog. These animals will protect their young. A wise predator will look for other opportunities.


A series of photographs of animals rotates on a video display.


I came down to the ground floor, where one final gallery awaited. I like photographing the staircase here, with animals carved into the marble.


One more look up at Gaia.

Sunday, February 9, 2025

Great Migrations

 The next diorama includes a bat at upper left, while a shrew is working on its prey, a mouse on the ground.


A panel looks at the tendency of some mammals to migrate.


Such as the caribou, who are featured in the next diorama.


A display case features a skunk.


While its neighbour is the porcupine.


Across from these two are small diorama cases, each featuring an animal in their surroundings.