The Wyoming Dinosaur Center is located in

Thermopolis Thermopolis is the county seat and most populous town in Hot Springs County, Wyoming, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town population was 2,725. Thermopolis, Greek for "hot city", is home to numerous natural hot springs, in which ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

and is one of the few

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

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 in the world to have excavation sites within driving distance. The museum displays the Thermopolis Specimen of ''

Archaeopteryx ''Archaeopteryx'' (; ), sometimes referred to by its German name, "" ( ''Primeval Bird'') is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The name derives from the ancient Greek (''archaîos''), meaning "ancient", and (''ptéryx''), meaning "feather" ...

'', which is one of only two real specimens of this genus on display outside of Europe. Fifteen minutes from the museum are their many dig sites. Located on the Warm Springs Ranch, more than 10,000 bones have been discovered and excavated, most of which are either on display or stored just down the hill at the museum. One of the most notable fossil assemblies on the property is from the "Something Interesting" or SI excavation site. This site presents the rare occurrence of both dinosaur trace fossils and body fossils including footprints of many

Sauropods Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their b ...

and ''

Allosaurus ''Allosaurus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period ( Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian ages). The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to th ...

'' as well as skeletal remains from ''

Camarasaurus ''Camarasaurus'' ( ) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period. Its fossil remains have been found in the Morrison Formation, dating to the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian ages of the Jurassic, betwe ...

Diplodocus ''Diplodocus'' (, , or ) is an extinct genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaurs known from the Late Jurassic of North America. The first fossils of ''Diplodocus'' were discovered in 1877 by S. W. Williston. The generic name, coined by Othnie ...

,'' and ''

Apatosaurus ''Apatosaurus'' (; meaning "deceptive lizard") is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period. Othniel Charles Marsh described and named the first-known species, ''A. ajax'', in 1877, a ...

'' - three of the sauropods most common in the area during the Late Jurassic. Most of the bones belong to a juvenile (30 foot long) ''

'' that was scavenged by many '' Allosaurs''. This is known based on the presence of both teeth and claw marks on many of the bones present as well as an abundance of shed ''Allosaur'' teeth (more than 100) found among the bone debris. Research conducted by Debra Jennings back in 2006, determined that the bones were accumulated in the past when the site was part of a shallow alkaline lake. There are in fact at least two separate layers of bone bearing material created as the lake expanded and shrank with changes in the environment over time.().

Dig sites

Other dig sites include "Foot Site" or FS, which contains parts of at least three juvenile

diplodocid Diplodocids, or members of the family Diplodocidae ("double beams"), are a group of sauropod dinosaurs. The family includes some of the longest creatures ever to walk the Earth, including '' Diplodocus'' and '' Supersaurus'', some of which may ha ...

with articulated hands and feet, "There You Are" or TYA, which contains the remains of multiple ''Allosaurs'' and has not been worked on over the past few years due to the discovery of a site called "Above There You Are" or ATYA, which contains the remains of what currently appears to be a single very young Diplodocid. One of the oldest sites on the property is called "Beside Sauropod" or BS, which has been active for over 20 years and produced over 1800 bones to date. Included at the site are at least 6 ''Camarasaurs'' and a partial ''Apatosaur'' as well as dozens of shed ''Allosaur'' teeth. There are many more inactive sites found around the property including "Don't Fall," "Bone Bed," "Above Bone Bed," "West to Beside Sauropod," "Laura's Apatosaur," and "Cheryl's Blind" just to name a few. Out of all the dig sites discovered, the main concentration of bones belongs to one of the four following genera: ''Apatosaurus, Camarasaurus, Diplodocus'' or ''Allosaurus''. During the winter, the excavation sites are closed to visitors, but over the summer months (late-May to mid-September) active digging occurs every day (weather permitting).

Collections and exhibits

The museum is open all year round and hosts a gallery with more than 50 mounted skeletons, including a full mount of '' Supersaurus vivianae'' excavated from a quarry near Douglas, Wyoming. The replica skeleton on display is 106 feet long and is the first mount based on data from the second and most complete ''Supersaurus'' ever found affectionately named "Jimbo" (WDC DMJ-001) which was donated to the museum in 2003. Other dinosaurs present include a ''T rex, Triceratops, Medusaceratops'' as well as various ''Hadrosaurs, Stegosaurs'' and ''Allosaurs''. One of the newest members to the museum is the almost 90% complete, composite skeleton of a ''Camarasaurus'' found on the property by staff and visitors, excavated over the past 20 years. There is also a collection of real and replica marine reptiles, and flying reptiles. From these times before and after the dinosaurs, the museum hosts an impressive display of pre-Mesozoic fossils, including numerous Devonian fish and invertebrates. The more modern displays include fossil camels, horses, rodents and nimravids (sabretooth cat like animals). The museum also houses a fully functional preparation lab, where staff and visitors can be seen cleaning, repairing and preserving fossils found on the property as well as from other locations around the country, all year long.

Programs

The Wyoming Dinosaur Center offers many programs that allow visitors to dig up dinosaurs. Starting end of May (depending on the weather) the Dig for the Day program starts. This program is for families and individuals that are interested in learning more about paleontology. The Dig for the Day begins at 8am and finishes at 5pm. All fossils found remain at the museum for science and research. Throughout the summer, many dates are available for the Kids' Dig. Children ages 8 to 12 learn all aspect of what The Wyoming Dinosaur Center does. They dig, work in the prep lab removing matrix from dinosaur bones and they learn molding and casting. Other programs include Dinosaur Academy, Senior Activities and Paleo Prep program.

Gallery

File:Lytoloma Specimen.jpg, A fossil

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerh ...

on display File:Othnelia.jpg, A pair of replica '' Othnielia'' spar File:BS Quarry.jpg, Excavations at the 'Beside Sauropod' Quarry File:Mymoorapelta (1).jpg, A replica ''

Mymoorapelta ''Mymoorapelta'' (Meaning "Shield from the Mygatt-Moore Quarry" after a combination of the names of the discoverers of the Mygatt-Moore Quarry that fossils were originally collected from, and the Greek word πέλτα, meaning "shield") is a Nod ...

'' on display File:Long tailed turtle fossil.jpg, A fossil

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

from the

Green River Formation The Green River Formation is an Eocene geologic formation that records the sedimentation in a group of intermountain lakes in three basins along the present-day Green River (Colorado River), Green River in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The sedimen ...

in southwestern Wyoming File:Ankylosaur (1).jpg, A replica '' Gastonia'' on display File:Lystrosaurus Wyoming.jpg, A replica ''

Lystrosaurus ''Lystrosaurus'' (; 'shovel lizard'; proper Ancient Greek is ''lístron'' ‘tool for leveling or smoothing, shovel, spade, hoe’) is an extinct genus of herbivorous dicynodont therapsids from the late Permian and Early Triassic epochs (arou ...

'' on display

References

External links