Ultimate Dinosaurs!

I was very excited to see the new "Ultimate Dinosaurs" exhibit at our public museum a few weeks ago! I'm just now getting to write about it because I didn't feel up to writing coherently with the nasty flu I had. Anyway, now I'm back and ready to write! I'd heard about this dinosaur exhibit on the radio, but didn't entirely know what to expect. Whatever I was expecting, this was better! The dinosaurs were beautifully displayed and perfectly lit. The bright orange, yellow, blue, and green lights added this intensity to the skeletons and made them a little spookier.

So many of these dinosaurs were new to me. Actually, all of them were new to me. They ranged from adorably small chicken-sized lizards to T-Rex level in size. I took photos of their names as I went along, because there's no way I'd remember names like these. So here we go...

I started with my favorite photo of those I took. That first photo is actually the wallpaper on my computer now. That dinosaur who is looking so awesome in the orange light is Suchomimus. This name translates to "crocodile mimic" because of his head. I imagine this was a terrifying dinosaur.

Just look at these claws!

A close-up blingy claw and tooth:

It's hard to believe this is the same dinosaur from this angle. The skeleton looks so much longer from the side. This is another favorite photo from the day. I like the way it looks like Suchomimus is wrapping around the room. This probably would have looked cool with a fisheye lens.

This little guy was one of the first in the exhibit. Pisanosaurus was from Argentina and was only 3.3 feet long.

From the very small to the very large, this skull is from a Carcharodontosaurus. Most of these names are easy to pronounce, but this one doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. 

To give you an idea of how much larger this dinosaur would have been than the little Pisanosaurus, just this skull is 5 feet in length. Carcharodontosaurus translates to "shark toothed lizard" and I think it's pretty clear why this dinosaur got its name. I learned from the sign next to the skull that "Carcharodon" is a name for the great white shark. 

Check out the spine on Ouranosaurus! 

Ouranosaurus translates to "brave (monitor) lizard". 

A close-up of the feet, which look kind of like elephant feet to me:

The ribs:

This is Nigersaurus or as I called him, "Vacuum Head". Doesn't his head look like a small handheld vacuum? Oh, I'm just reading the sign I took a photo of that was next to him and I guess I wasn't that original after all. (I didn't read some of these signs I photographed until now.) They also noted that his head was "shaped like a vaccum cleaner nozzle, wide and flat, with all of its teeth in a row at the front of the jaws."

He looks happy enough in this illustration. Also according to the sign, Nigersaurus had 50 tooth positions and 9 replacement teeth in each socket. They say he probably replaced roughly 80 to 100 teeth per month. Hmm... That sounds like a lot. Maybe these dinosaurs didn't have that long of a lifespan or maybe there were some toothless ones walking around. Some photos of the Nigersaurus skull:

You can see how the teeth are really packed in here.

Simosuchus isn't actually a dinosaur. From what I read on the sign next to him, he's a crocodilian from Madagascar. The name Simosuchus translates to "pug-nosed crocodile" which makes sense when you look at him. I have to smile just looking at this creature. He reminds me of those little skeleton dogs you see for sale at Halloween. He's about the size of a medium sized dog.

I have to smile just looking at this picture. He's such a little character. And that hind leg of his looks like there's a pine cone on it. 

He looks ready to spring! This is what they think he would have looked like. I think he's cuter as a skeleton. But you can see that he looks like a crocodile with a short snout.

There was also a skull on display from a crocodile that looks more crocodile-like. You have to imagine the many teeth that would have been there. I wonder what happened to the teeth?

Majungasaurus:

Can you believe these tiny arms? I was joking that maybe they pieced this one together incorrectly! Like, maybe they found some other dinosaur's tiny little skeleton arms nearby and just stuck them on this big guy! I'm kidding, but isn't this a weird design for a creature? It said on the sign near this dinosaur that its arms were completely ineffective at doing anything! It also said that these couldn't manage to touch their hands together or even move their fingers independently. 

Rahonavis or the "cloud menace bird"

Another cute little thing that looks like it should be part of a mobile in a science classroom.

The little Buitreraptor:

The Austroraptor:

Amargasaurus reminds me of one of Delia's sculptures in Beetlejuice!

Look at that spine!

See what I mean about Delia's art? Especially lit with the blue lighting in this scene. That little man(?) who is going to marry them also reminds me of this fossil. I guess because he's a little blue lit skeleton man.

This red lit dinosaur is the Carnotaurus:

Look at those little arms!

This next picture scares me more than any of the others I took that day. For some reason, it isn't too hard for me to imagine this one on the attack.

Rawr!

Giganotosaurus is the one name I will remember. It's the perfect name for this large T-Rex type dinosaur. This huge skeleton was saved for last in the exhibit and it made a big impression with that lime green lighting.

Chomp!

Here I am with Giganotosaurus. Actually, he doesn't look all that large in relation to me. Of course, he'd seem plenty large if he was alive and standing behind me!

Here's his feet:

I found a video on YouTube of the exhibit, which was a nice overview for me. It's always interesting to see the different perspective someone else has when photographing the exact thing you photographed.

The music that's set to this is very bold and dramatic - perfect for dinosaurs.

I have a feeling that a lot of these dinosaurs were new to you guys. Do you have any favorites? I found myself saying "This one's my favorite!" several times.