Dinópolis, located in

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel (province), Teruel Province. It had a population of 35,900 as of 2022, making it the least populated provincial capital in Spain. It is noted for its har ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, is one of the largest

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

s of

paleontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure ge ...

in the world. It also includes some attractions, restaurants and shows. The museum comprises three main exhibition halls and a research laboratory.

History

In 1998, the provincial government of

Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to south): Huesca, Zaragoza, a ...

established a foundation with the aim of creating exhibition facilities for the growing collection of fossils found in Teruel, at the same time stimulating

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

and hereby funding future research. The first building was opened in June 2001, at Dinópolis Teruel.

Exhibition halls

Dinópolis has the following exhibition halls: *Aquatic Life Hall *Dinosaur Hall *Mammal Hall *Hall of Meteorites

Territorio Dinópolis

Dinópolis Teruel is part of a chain of eight such natural history museums and parks named Territorio Dinópolis, the seven others being Inhóspitak at

Peñarroya de Tastavins Peñarroya de Tastavins () or Pena-roja () is a municipality located in the Matarranya Comarcas of Aragon, comarca, Teruel (province), province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), INE) ...

, founded in 2003, Legendark at Galve (2003), Región Ambarina: at Rubielos de Mora (2004), Bosque Pétreo (2005) at

Castellote Castellote is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2010 census,Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain) the municipality has a population of 804 inhabitants. Situated in a picturesque setting on the ...

, Mar Nummus, at

Albarracín Albarracín () is a Spanish town, in the province of Teruel, part of the autonomous community of Aragon. According to the 2007 census (INE), the municipality had a population of 1075 inhabitants. Albarracín is the capital of the mountainous Si ...

(2008), Titania at Riodeva (2012) and Valcaria at

Ariño Ariño () is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census ( INE), the municipality has a population of 898 inhabitants. A former leader of the ELN- José Antonio Jiménez Comín was born in this m ...

(2015).

Research activities

Dinópolis has an active research team, called

Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis Fundación is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of Magdalena. Its people are known as Fundanenses. The primary economic activity is livestock-raising, for production of both meat and milk. Other crops are: corn, yuca, or ...

or just Fundación Dinópolis. One of the achievements of this team has been the description of ''

Turiasaurus riodevensis ''Turiasaurus'' (meaning " Turia lizard") is a genus of sauropod dinosaurs. It is known from a single fossil specimen representing the species ''Turiasaurus riodevensis'', found in the Kimmeridgian Villar del Arzobispo Formation of Teruel, Spain ...

'' by Royo-Torres, Cobos & Alcala, 2006.

In popular culture

* An episode of '' Historia de España'' is set in Dinópolis, and also in some outcrops in Teruel.

References

External links

Dinópolis Teruel website

Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis website
{{authority control 2001 establishments in Spain Museums established in 2001 Natural history museums in Spain Museums in Aragon Dinosaur museums