Dinosaurs roar to life at Balboa Park

Summer exhibition to show how fossils fuel science

By Christy Scannell

Editor

T. Rex and his “friends” will be summering at Balboa Park as part of a new San Diego Natural History Museum exhibit.

“Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries” opens March 27 and continues through Sept. 6, featuring dinosaur models (including a full-size cast skeleton of Tyrannosaurus rex), videos and a 700-square-foot walk-through diorama.

While the museum has previously staged dinosaur displays, this exhibition offers a fresh twist by showing how thinking about dinosaurs has changed over the past two decades and how scientists are using cutting-edge research to learn more about these prehistoric animals.

“Over the last 20 years, scientific knowledge about dinosaurs has increased astronomically and has involved the use of many new methods and lines of evidence, not to mention exciting new fossil discoveries,” says Dr. Tom Deméré, the museum’s curator of paleontology.

Many of the exhibit’s fossil specimens and fossil casts will be on public display for the first time. These fossils, say scientists, present an intriguing thesis that the dinosaur extinction 65 million years ago was not final. In fact, they say, dinosaurs have survived and prospered into the present day and walk among us, or more often fly above us, as modern birds. For example, the Bambiraptor feinbergi is a well-preserved dromaeosaur fossil that scientists point to as strong evidence that dinosaurs are closely related to modern birds.

The exhibit will be divided into five sections. An introductory area will illustrate how modern paleontologists are using new discoveries and technologies to understand dinosaurs. Visitors will be able to view colorful graphics and CT scans to see how the Bambiraptor feinbergi, a small carnivorous dinosaur fossil that is the best-preserved and most complete dromaeosaur found in North America, provides evidence about the evolutionary links between birds and dinosaurs.

The “How Dinosaurs Moved” section will introduce a six-foot-long mechanical T. rex skeleton that walks in place, illustrating how experts estimate the typical speed and gait of a rampaging tyrannosaur. Meanwhile, a full-size cast skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex standing on one leg will bear down on visitors below. Other parts of this display will include a 60-foot-long model of an Apatosaurus skeleton, based on DinoMorph computer drawings, and three high-definition video screens showing a computer animation of the steel robo-dinosaur skeleton morphing into a full-fleshed Apatosaurus.

“The Liaoning Forest” will be home to the walk-through diorama, which depicts a 130-million-year-old forest that existed in what is now Liaoning Province, China, considered one of the most important fossil-bearing areas in the world. One of the largest re-creations of a prehistoric environment ever built, it will contain life-size models of more than 35 different dinosaurs.

A demonstration of how scientists are reinterpreting old fossil evidence using new technologies will be the focus of “How Dinosaurs Behaved.” Visitors will be able to see a “trophy wall” of mounted dinosaur skulls that highlight the differences in the animals’ horns, crests, domes, etc., and explain how each structure might have been used, such as for defense or mate recognition.

Finally, “Extinction” will explain theories on how the Age of Dinosaurs might have ended, including asteroid impact, global climate change and massive volcanic eruptions. For example, a slab of sedimentary rock collected from New Jersey and on display will show a thin layer of iridium, a metallic element that marks the boundary between the end of the Cretaceous Period and the beginning of the Tertiary Period about 65 million years ago. A computer simulation will present re-creations of the various extinction scenarios.

“Every few years, the museum hosts a traveling dinosaur exhibition that feeds the curiosity of children and, hopefully, inspires a lifelong love of, and desire to learn more about, science and natural history,” said Dr. Michael W. Hager, museum president and CEO. “Even the brightest child – of any age – will come away from the exhibition informed, inspired, delighted and motivated to explore more.”

Tickets to the museum range from $12 to $16 for nonmembers with discounts for children, students, military, seniors and groups. The museum plans a variety of programs and activities for children, adults and families as part of the dinosaur exhibit, including behind-the-scenes tours and an overnight camp-in at the museum. For information, go to sdnhm.org or call 255-0203.