May 23, 2011
Dinosaur Sighting: Spinosaurus Scoop
A Spinosaurus sculpture near an ice cream shop in California. Image from Flickr user larry&flo.
Spinosaurus may not be as popular as Tyrannosaurus, but sculptures and models of the sail-backed predatory dinosaur are fairly common along America’s roadsides. This one, photographed by Larry Miller, was spotted outside the Garlic Ice Cream Stand near Gilroy, California. It makes me wonder what sort of ice cream a Spinosaurus would have preferred. Would the crocodile-snouted dinosaur have liked a cone of rocky road, or would it have preferred something a little more attuned to its natural tastes, like a scoop based on its possible fishy prey Lepidotes? I guess we’ll never know.
Have you seen a prehistoric creature in an unusual place? Submissions of dinosaurs—and other ancient beasts—should be sent to dinosaursightings@gmail.com.
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There are two places I’ve seen in central California where people make these funky scrap-iron dinosaurs: a metal shop along highway 92 on the way out to Halfmoon Bay, California, and another in Albion, California (in Mendocino County, also out on the coast).
Oddly enough, both shops have dinosaurs made of this “style”, and I wonder if the same artist is responsible. I would bet that this Spinosaurus model came from said shop in Halfmoon Bay.
I’ve seen a giant life size T-Rex robot in Toys R Us at Times Square New York, but I’m pretty sure you already knew that, that is,if you’ve ever been to Toys R Us at Times Square before.