RMDRC Upcoming Events

We are working on our 2007 Calendar and will have this completed for next month's newsletter. Stay tuned...
 

Prehistoric Paradise Store - Valentine's Special!

Beginning now through February 14, come visit the Prehistoric Paradise store, and receive 10% off all jewelry for that special someone! You can also check out our online store by clicking here.
 

REMINDER - NEW Exhibit is open at the RMDRC

We are proud to announce that our new exhibit "Tiny Killers" is now open at the museum. Learn about these fascinating new creature many of which are being shown to the public for the first time. Come and check out these new dinosaur specimens!
 

Lab & Field News

Preparation of real bones in the lab is proceeding at a fast pace. We're currently finishing up the last jackets to a Triceratops skull named "Pookie". Pookie is the nickname of my little sister, and I named it for her because 1) I found it on her birthday, and 2) because I forgot to send her a present.

We have six specimens that we will be working on before the end of April. In order they are: Pookie and UTC, both frilled horned dinosaurs, Jonathan, a very complete and articulated Thescelosaurus, the first and only skull ever discovered of a rare giant cretaceous fish called Protosphyraena gladius, Pete3 the Daspletosaurus, and lastly Bert, a small Thescelosaurus with a complete skull. Come and view our progress through the lab windows on your next visit!


Here is a great view of our Thescelosaurus leg named "Jonathan"


This is a neck vertebra from "Pookie", a Triceratops
 

Thanks,
Anthony Maltese
Curator
anthony@rmdrc.com
 

From the Education Desk 
 

Dinosaurs have stomped, raged, and even smiled across the television and movie screen since the early 1900’s. However, all previous depictions of dinosaurs in movies and television pale in comparison to Steven Spielberg’s extremely popular Jurassic Park movies. This month I though I would give you a few Jurassic Park movie facts.

• Realistically, an isolated tropical island could never support the nutritional requirements of all the dinosaurs featured in a Jurassic Park setting. In short, there would be too little food, not the right kind of food, and too much competition for what little food was available.

• Could Spinosaurus kill a T-rex like in Jurassic Park III? One problem, Spinosaurus and T- rex did not coexist on the same continent; they were an ocean apart. Spinosaurus was in present-day Africa, while T-rex roamed areas of present-day United States, Canada, and East Asia. Therefore, the battle was purely hypothetical, created for the movie alone. However, if the 2 could have existed at the same time in the same place...Spinosaurus may have been the victor.

• Pteranodon means “wings without teeth.” However, avid Jurassic Park III viewers may recall a scene in which a Pteranodon opens its mouth wide, revealing ominous rows of teeth. Pteranodon had no teeth.

No prehistoric creatures have fascinated people of all ages more than dinosaurs. I am continually amazed at the terrific questions visitors ask me. Our goal at RMDRC is to deepen visitor’s understanding of dinosaurs, flying reptiles, and marine animals, and I welcome your questions. I hope you will visit RMDRC soon; we have a wealth of new information to share with you!

Regards,
Pat White

Education Director
pat@rmdrc.com
 

Dinosaur News

For those of you hanging onto the idea that Jurassic Park may some day be a reality, read this article. Scientists are hoping for DNA.

Read this article about a new discovery in India - dinosaur eggs!