May 6, 2010
Smithsonian Highlights Dinosaurs From its Backyard
A restoration of Astrodon, a sauropod dinosaur which lived in prehistoric Maryland. From Wikipedia.
Late last year, Maryland’s Prince George’s County got a new dinosaur park—a Cretaceous-age site which will continue to fuel the work of scientists and educate the public about the prehistory of the state. To help celebrate the establishment of this park, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History has just opened the exhibit “Dinosaurs in Our Backyard,” which highlights a few of the fossils from the park and the role amateur collectors can play in helping professional paleontologists better understand the life of the past. The exhibit case can be seen in the first floor fossil halls.
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This is a fantastic idea… I’m so excited to see this exhibit.
I remember going to Calvert Cliffs with my dad when I was a young boy, pulling up fossilized sharks teeth, shells and the occasional bone. Some of my favorite memories of our times together.
Now that I’m a dad, (and in New Jersey) I take my son to the various creeks in Monmouth County that offer cretaceous-era sharks teeth, shells and yup, the occasional bone.
Love it!
wish i could see it. I kinda have an interest in fossils from far flung areas, off the beaten path so to speak. Why did i have to live on the west coast?