“The Last American Dinosaurs: Discovering a Lost World” Exhibit (Washington D.C., U.S.A.)

“The Last American Dinosaurs: Discovering a Lost World,” a 5,200 sq. ft. exhibition opened last November 25, 2014 at the National Museum of Natural History, tells the story of non-avian dinosaurs’ final years in western North America through an extraordinary diversity of animals and plants discovered in the fossil-rich layers of the Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.  Here, we walked through time to explore scientists’ findings to the questions that help us understand America’s last dinosaurs, their lives, and their ultimate demise.

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"Stan" the Tyrannosaurus rex

Set in North America’s western interior, it reveals what life was like for dinosaurs and other animals thriving during the Late Cretaceous Period between 66 and 68 million years ago. The exhibition features two of the most imposing dinosaurs in the museum’s collections - “Hatcher,” a replica mount of giant, plant-eating Triceratops and “Stan,” the museum’s nearly 14 ft. tall cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex .  The nickname “Stan” was given to a fossil found in Hell Creek Formation, South Dakota, close to Buffalo in 1987 by Stan Sacrison while “Hatcher” was named after  fossil hunter John Bell Hatcher who collected the fossil in Niobrara County, Wyoming.

 

"Hatcher" the Triceratops

The skulls of an adult Edmontosaurus (the first Mesozoic dinosaur displayed at the NMNH, it was collected by John Bell Hatcher, also in Niobrara County, Wyoming, sometime between 1889 and 1892) and an infant and yearling Triceratops also highlight the show.   The murals of ancient environments, featuring plants and animals from the lush, diverse Hell Creek Formation ecosystem, give visitors a window into the past.  There are other fossil displays and a video presentation showing behind-the-scene collaborations between scientists and Paleo-artists working on the exhibit and an arcade-style game, “How to Become a Fossil.”

 

Face to face with a T rex

The exhibition will remain on view until the completion of the museum’s newly renovated dinosaur and fossil hall, scheduled for opening in 2019. The museum’s previous 30-year-old, 2,300 sq. m. (25,000 sq. ft.) Dinosaur and Fossil Hall  closed last April 27, 2014 in preparation for the most extensive (US$45 million) exhibition renovation, the largest, most extensive in the museum’s history. The new hall will be named in recognition of its largest supporter, billionaire David H. Koch. His gift (US$35 million donated on May 2012) also has helped make possible the “Last American Dinosaurs” exhibition.

 

Another view of Hatcher

At one end of the exhibition are artist renderings and in-progress photos of the new, much bigger dinosaur and fossil hall that will open in 2019 as it is designed and created over the next few years.  The new FossiLab, now open for guests, features a glass-enclosed lab that allows visitors to watch museum paleontologists and trained volunteers extract fossils from rock and make fossil casts and molds.   A “Fresh from the Field” display showcases recent fossil finds and gives visitors an inside look at the field of paleontology and the exciting process of investigating traces of ancient life. 

“The Last American Dinosaurs: Discovering a Lost World:” 2/F, National Museum of Natural History,  10th St. & Constitution Ave. NW, National Mall, Washington, D.C. 20560