The “Dinos in the Desert” exhibit fills the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum with 10 different dinosaur and pterosaur installations spread throughout the museum grounds. Until April 27, life-size models will be set up in a manner meant to help visitors imagine what it was like when these prehistoric creatures roamed the earth.
The installations feature classic dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops, alongside lesser-known creatures such as the Kosmoceratops and Maiasaura.
To mark the exhibit, the museum has hosted events such as a dinosaur costume contest in November and a New Year’s party featuring the drop of a giant dinosaur egg. The museum is also planning “Sensory Friendly Dino Days” for visitors with sensory sensitivities who may experience discomfort from the dinosaurs’ roaring.
“One of the main reasons we wanted to do the exhibit to begin with is for kids,” said Debra Colodner, director of conservation, education and science at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. “If you interview scientists now, it is amazing how many of them will say, ‘My interest in science began with dinosaurs.’”
A key point of the event is to invite viewers to consider how drastically the Sonoran Desert has changed over the hundreds of millions of years since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. According to Rich Thompson, senior lecturer at the University of Arizona, when Arizona’s state dinosaur, the Sonorasaurus, lived, the Sonoran Desert was a harsh environment with a semi-arid climate and a landscape dominated by conifers and other trees that could reach 100 feet tall.
“I hope it gets [visitors] thinking about the ancient natural history of our part of the planet,” Thompson said. “Dinosaurs were a huge part of the ancient natural history of our region, so it’s the perfect place. Some of the exact species on display were probably here, and if not, then their close relatives were.”
In 1994, while working with staff paleontologist Ron Ratkevich, Thompson discovered the Sonorasaurus, a long-necked dinosaur about 50 feet long and 19 tons that lived during the Cretaceous period. Since the discovery, Thompson has been a supporter of the museum, occasionally leading docent training and giving presentations during the museum’s “Dino Nights.”
Colodner hopes visitors leave the exhibit with “a deeper appreciation for the diversity of life forms that have existed, as well as those that could exist in the future, and an understanding of how important biodiversity is for surviving catastrophes like a meteor impact or climate change.”
Those interested in attending should visit the museum’s website for more information. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is located at 2021 N. Kinney Road, Tucson.
