Perot Museum Unveils The Summer of Dinosaurs
There’s only one place this summer to see 17 rarely seen species – including the world’s most massive land animal, T. rex’s ferocious distant cousin, and a cannibalistic dino – all from the southern hemisphere.
The Perot Museum of Nature and Science unleashed its newest touring exhibit in June as a way to kick off the Summer of Dinosaurs.
The “Ultimate Dinosaur” exhibit, which runs through Jan. 6, 2019, is a fascinating introduction to 17 dinosaurs that are unfamiliar to most North Americans. Presented by Highland Capital Management and supported by Hilton’s “Explore Like a Local” program, the exhibit tells the story of the breakup of supercontinent Pangaea into today’s continents and the fantastic diversity of dinosaur species that evolved as a result.
Highlights include 15 fully articulated dinosaur casts, more than a dozen prehistoric specimens, augmented reality to experience the dinosaurs in the flesh, real fossilized dinosaur specimens, hands-on play spaces featuring miniature dinosaur dioramas, and more.
At a preview event in June, Thomas Surgent, the chief compliance officer with Highland Capital Management, said the exhibit made him “feel like a kid again.”
“There’s no better way to instill an interest in science to our kids than through dinosaurs,” he said.
Linda Silver, Eugene McDermott chief executive officer of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, said the opportunity to host “Ultimate Dinosaurs” this summer is a lead up to new permanent exhibits at the museum.
The museum has expanded the new exhibit up to the fourth floor. Two highlights: an interactive display called “Dancing with Dinosaurs” where you can bust a move with raptors and understand a little bit more about their anatomy and how they move in reaction to you; and Stan. Stan, a life-sized cast of the second most complete T. rex skeleton ever found, sits at the top of the glass T. rexculator (see what we did there) on the fourth floor of the museum.
A paleo lab will debut Labor Day weekend on the museum’s fourth floor. The glass-encased permanent exhibit will give guests real-time access to the active dinosaur research of museum paleontologists as they process and prepare fossils fresh from the field.
Who knows, you might even witness the unearthing of a new prehistoric species.
Labor Day weekend also will serve as the inaugural Dino Fest where dozens of activities, from fossil fun to dinosaur dissection to meteorites and coprolites will take over the museum.
