Dallas Museum of Nature and Science’s Dinosaurs Unearthed exhibit features animated robots, life-size skeletons and dinosaur fossil specimens. The exhibit will close May 1. (Photo courtesy of Dallas Museum of Nature and Science )
After debuting in Dallas in October, the internationally travelling exhibit will leave the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science May 1.
The exhibit is home to 14 animated robots, three articulated life-sized skeletons and over 30 other fossil specimens dating back to the Cretaceous period.
“Dinosaurs Unearthed” was designed to spark interest in history and science through the discoveries of earth scientists, paleontologists and archaeologists. It allows people to see the dinosaurs as real creatures that once walked the earth, according to Communications Manager Jennifer Whitus.
Along with the dinosaur robots and fossil specimens, the exhibit offers several other activities.
Within the exhibit, interactive stations allow the public to learn how to distinguish between normal rocks and fossilized bones and another explaining why certain dinosaurs have holes in their skulls.
The Dinosaur Defense station has a team of dinosaur experts there to answer questions and show the public actual defense mechanisms such as claws and teeth.
There is also a Dino Dig area that allows children to play paleontologist-in-the-field and discover the dinosaur fossils that are within.
The exhibit shows a large variety of both popular dinosaurs along with species not as well known.
“The well-known favorites, like Stegosaurus, T. rex and Triceratops are there, but we also wanted to give visitors a chance to learn about some lesser-known dinosaurs like Omeisaurus, Gasosaurus, Metricanthisaurus and Parasaurolophus,” Whitus said.
Dinosaurs Unearthed is unique from the aspect that it is the first exhibit in the world to feature life-sized models of feather dinosaurs.
It used to be thought that all dinosaurs were reptile-like with scaly, leather-like skin. Contrary to that belief, it has been found that in some dinosaurs, from the time of hatching to juvenile stage, had a coat of scales and a layer of hair-like feathers meant to help regulate heat such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex, according to the exhibit website.
Louis Jacobs, SMU professor of paleontology, feels that the exhibit presents the material in a way that meshes the reality and general public’s idea of how dinosaurs were and how fossil remains are discovered.
After viewing the exhibit, people have the opportunity to walk over the adjacent building and go down to the basement to see the museum’s paleontology labs where they can see the processes of preparing fossils for research and display.
Admission to the exhibit is $5 for non-members and $3 for members in addition to the regular museum admission fee.
