Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas
Traveling Exhibition from the American Museum of Natural History
FEBRUARY 17 - SEPTEMBER 15, 2024
Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas, an engaging exhibition that reveals a vivid picture of what living, breathing dinosaurs were really like, opens at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History in February 2024. This exhibition introduces how current thinking about dinosaur biology has changed over the past two decades and highlights current research by scientists from the American Museum of Natural History and other leading paleontologists around the world.
Using a combination of major fossil finds, captivating computer simulations, and provocative models, Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas introduces a dynamic vision of dinosaurs and the scientists who study them. This exhibition examines in great detail recent scientific sleuthing and the array of investigative tools—from bioengineering computer software to CT scans—used by modern scientists to reinterpret many of the most persistent and puzzling mysteries of dinosaurs: what they looked like, how they behaved, and how they moved. It also explores the complex and hotly debated theories of why—or even whether—they became extinct.
“This exhibition illustrates how scientists are using new ideas, new discoveries, and new technologies to revolutionize our understanding of dinosaurs,” says Mark A. Norell, curator of Dinosaur Discoveries and Chair and Curator Emeritus of the Division of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History. “Our work reaches across many disciplines involving paleontologists, biomechanical engineers, paleobotanists, and others to showcase how we go about reconstructing the mysterious life of dinosaurs.”
Twin models of Protoceratops, one showing a skeleton, the other a fleshed-out model, demonstrate this dinosaur’s unique frills. Scientists have developed new theories about why they sported these dramatic features. ©AMNH
Exhibition Highlights
The exhibition is divided into several major themes:
Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (www.amnh.org), in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; The Field Museum, Chicago; the Houston Museum of Natural Science; and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh.
Many thanks to the sponsoring organizations and individuals whose financial support helped us bring Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas to UMMNH.
Myron Campbell, Marlys Hamill, Martha Luckham, Rick & Paula Muhs, Perry G. Pernicano, and anonymous donors
Help bring the exhibit to life through sponsorship! Email Nora Webber at norawe@umich.edu.
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