Thursday, May 7, 2026

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.

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