Hello, Beastie

 Maiasaura forced a re-think on dinosaurs when they were first discovered- not just this one species, but dinosaurs as a whole. There was strong evidence that they took care of their young, and this called into question the long standing perception of dinosaurs as vicious lizards. If one species could be good parents, why not others?

There is a mock up of a nest here, with the first baby hatching.

Some marine dinosaurs lie ahead.

Archelon was the largest turtle ever, a resident of the Cretaceous.

Mosasaurs and terminonaris robusta have things in common with current day reptiles.

Overhead, more beasties: this is the plesiosaur, a predator of the ocean.

One more look up at archelon.

In the next space, two feathered dinosaurs are at their nest, looking at something across the way. We'll get a look tomorrow.

The Lost World

 We had a look at this specimen yesterday. Carnotaurus was an apex predator in what is now South America. This one is a full cast.

Duck billed dinosaurs were herd animals, with a variety of species.

This compares the lower jawbone of a plant eater, edmontosaurus, to that of the meat eating daspletosaurus.

In the right conditions, dinosaur skin could leave an impression in the mud and earth around it, even after the skin itself was long gone. 

Edmontosaurus might well have migrated with the seasons.

These are all related- lambeosaurines- dinosaurs with head crests. It is thought that head crests were involved in the making of sound by these animals.

This is hypacrosaurus, another duck billed dinosaur.

Ancient Dinosaurs

 One last look for this visit up at Gaia.

The central staircase descends from the second floor down to the first, and is a work of art in and of itself.

Particularly the columns, adorned with carved animal heads.

The Fossil Gallery is down here, and the visitor first meets daspletosaurus, a cousin of the T-Rex.

There are a lot of fossils in here.

Dinosaurs have a lot in common with birds, a debate that continues today. Those of you on social media may be familiar with an emu by the name of Karen at Useless Farms. I'm convinced Karen is definitely a dinosaur.

And not all predators had to be big throughout the age of the dinosaurs. Dromaeosaurus is a raptor- a pack hunter and a relentlessly efficient one.

85 percent of the specimens in here are real fossils as opposed to casts, which are often used to fill in the gaps in a specimen.

Another look up at the big guy.

This is a cast, not the real thing- coprolite is fossilized dinosaur dung. 

Fossils are found throughout the world.

Majestic Canadian Wildlife

 Mammals communicate with their own, and with other kinds of mammals, in a variety of ways.

This dramatic diorama features a stand off. Muskoxen, animals of the Arctic, stand in protection of a youngster on one side of the diorama.

On the other, a curious sled dog.

Mammals adapt to the four seasons in Canada.

The Arctic hare is a resident of the north, and this diorama features a pair of them.

The last diorama in this gallery features a mother mountain lion keeping an eye on her two cubs in a Rocky Mountains setting.

Between them, the cubs have their attention drawn to a vole in the grass and rocks.