Dinosaur Exhibit

Dinosaurs in their Time includes fossils from the Mesozoic Era known as the Age of Dinosaurs. More than 230 objects are displayed in scientifically accurate reconstructions together with other animals of the time in their ancient flora habitats, adding a realistic element of nature. Over 75% of the dinosaur skeletons are original fossils, not replicas. In the Jurassic gallery, are the famous Apatosaurus louisae (the Late Jurassic sauropod dinosaur from the Morrison Formation named after Andrew Carnegie’s wife Louise), and the Diplodocus carnegii (named after Andrew Carnegie), nicknamed Dippy and discovered after the 1890’s expedition to the Western United States. These dinosaurs are holotypes. There are also great fossils of Allosaurus from Dinosaur National Monument in Utah, Stegosaurus and Comptosaurus. In the Cretaceous gallery, two enormous Tyrannosaurus rex fossils face each other. One is a holotype specimen, shown with its head lowered in a defensive position over a hadrosaur carcass. It was discovered in 1902 and bought by the Carnegie Museum in 1941. Several dinosaur species which lived together such as the Cretaceous Didelphodon and the larger Triceratops, whose fossils were found together, are displayed together.