Noteworthy

Dinosaur Trail celebrates first birthday

The Museum of Life and Sciences in Durham is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its Dinosaur Trail with a weekend of special activities.

Posted Updated
Albertasaurus_01
DURHAM, N.C. — The Museum of Life and Sciences in Durham is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its Dinosaur Trail with a weekend of special activities.

The quarter-mile-long trail features life-sized sculptures of dinosaurs amid plant life representative of the Cretaceous period, which was approximately 75 million years ago.

During the weekend celebration, visitors can create fossil casts, talk with a working paleoartist, make dino puppets, see fossils discovered by the N.C. Fossil Club, analyze bones in a laboratory and meet Buddy from UNC-TV's Dinosaur Train.

"Visitors can learn a lot from the activities, from talking with members of the Fossil Club about their collecting experiences and also from walking the Dinosaur Trail," museum spokeswoman Taneka Bennett said in a statement. "This event really brings paleontology to life."

The dinosaur sculptures depict a hungry Albertosaurus charging toward an Edmontonia, crouching down to protect itself and its baby, and a young Styracosaurus, who is vulnerable after being separated from his herd. Other scenes include a herd of Leptoceratops dodging the feet of a 65-foot long Alamosaurus and a group of Troodon stalking a nest protected by a mother Maiasaura.

Visitors can also dig for fossils in dirt that was once on the ocean floor.

The museum at 433 W. Murray Ave. is open until 5 p.m. Saturday and 12-5 p.m. Sunday.

 Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.