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The Big Dinosaur Podcast

The Big Dinosaur Podcast

A site about dinosaurs

6 Dinosaur Museums in California

California is not known for its dinosaurs, but there are still great places to visit if you want to see some. Here are six dinosaur museums in California.

Dinosaur encounter at the Natural History Museum Los Angeles County

Natural History Museum Los Angeles County

Explore the Dinosaur Hall, where you can see Triceratops, a T. rex growth series, and Auggie, California’s state dinosaur. And on weekends you can catch the dinosaur encounters live show.

Albertosaurus

San Diego Natural History Museum

Check out the Fossil Mysteries exhibit, and see dinosaurs such as Albertosaurus, Lambeosaurus, and an ankylosaur. There’s also a cast of Al, the Allosaurus fragilis from Utah.

Alf Museum

Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology

A center for paleontological research, fieldwork, and education in Claremont, and the only accredited museum on a high school campus. See dinosaurs like “Joe” the baby Parasaurolophus.

T. rex at Western Science Center

Western Science Center

A southern California museum in Hemet, where you can learn about all the dinosaurs studied by Western Science center researchers in the Prehistoric Pathways exhibit. That includes Dynamoterror, Invictarx, and Ornatops, all dinosaurs found in New Mexico. 

T. rex at UC Museum of Paleontology

UC Museum of Paleontology

In northern California on the Berkeley campus is UCMP, which does research, education, and outreach. The best way to see this museum is on CalDay, when the museum has tours, lectures, and hands-on activities.

Sierra College Natural History Museum

Further up north, in Rocklin, you can check out this museum’s History of Life exhibit and Dinosauria gallery, which has a Hypsilophodont (found by a Sierra College professor), and an Apatosaurus.

For more museums, in addition to the dinosaur museums in California, check out our map.

9 Places to Dig for Fossils

Holding a fossil on a dig for fossils

Digging for fossils is an amazing experience. You get to spend time outdoors, meet new people, and if you’re lucky, find some fossils!

What Are Fossils

But first, what are fossils?

Fossils are the remains or traces of the remains of animals and plants.

The word fossil comes from the Latin word fossus, which means “to dig”, or fossilis, which means “obtained by digging.”

Fossils can be large or small, and they can include bones, shells, feathers, leaves, and more.

How Are Fossils Formed

Not everything fossilizes (in fact, most things don’t fossilize). There’s some luck involved when it comes to fossilizing.

Animals and organisms can fossilize in a few ways. Perhaps the best known one, at least when it comes to dinosaurs, is permineralization.

As we mentioned, fossils can include bones, shells, feathers, leaves, and more. But to keep things simple, and because this is a dinosaur site, we’ll stick to dinosaur fossils.

A very simple example of permineralization is when a dinosaur dies, and gets quickly covered by sediment (such as mud, sand, volcanic ash, or tar). This protects the dinosaur from getting scavenged or from decaying by erosion. Over time, minerals are carried by water into the dinosaur’s tissues—slowly replacing parts of the animal with minerals can last for millions of years.

How to Tell a Fossil is a Fossil

Fossils have a spongy texture on the inside.

This is why some people do the lick test. Here’s how to do it:

  • Put the fossil or part of the fossil on your tongue
  • If your tongue sticks to it, it’s a fossil

This is because the fossil is porous in nature.

Where to Dig for Fossils

So where can you go if you want to dig for fossils?

We asked our listeners for their fossil dig recommendations, and here they are (thank you)! Keep in mind that most of these programs are only available during certain times of the year. Some programs are also more challenging than others, so make sure to do your research.

Colorado Northwestern Community College

Colorado Northwestern Community College

Two week digs, typically in the northwest corner of Colorado.

Elevation Science Institute

Elevation Science Institute

Sites are in Montana and include day expeditions and week-long expeditions.

Montana Dinosaur Center

Montana Dinosaur Center

You can book half day digs, full day digs, or exclusive digs.

Morrison Natural History Museum

Morrison Natural History Museum

Three-day programs at the Lance Formation in Wyoming.

Paleon Museum

Paleon Museum

Day digs, two-day digs, and week-long digs at various sites in Wyoming.

Penn Dixie Fossil Park & Nature Reserve

Penn Dixie Fossil Park & Nature Reserve

A fossil park where you can keep any fossils you find, though they ask for photos of cool specimens.

Sternberg Museum Science Camps

Camps for high school, middle school, and elementary school students.

Sue the T. rex by ScottRobertAnselmo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

The University of Chicago

Stones and Bones with the U of Chicago and the Field Museum: A four-week paleontology program for high school students.

Wyoming Dinosaur Center

Wyoming Dinosaur Center

Programs include dig for a day, kids dig, and more.

Want to know more about how to dig for fossils? Listen to episode 398 of our podcast, where we talk to Cameron Muskelly about fossil hunting. Hear tips of where to look, what to bring with you, and more.

Why Ankylosaurus is the Best Dinosaur

Ankylosaurus statue

1. All the armor

Ankylosaurus is known as a “living tank” because it had plates of bone as body armor, similar to what we see in modern crocodiles or armadillos,

Various tail clubs

2. The tail club

They probably used their tails to defend against predators, but they may also have used their tails for other purposes (like competing for mates).

A map of the world

3. It’s the namesake for ankylosaurs

Ankylosaurs are one of the most unique groups of dinosaurs, and they have been found on all continents. Ankylosaurus is also the biggest ankylosaur.

T. rex skeleton

4. Again, all the armor

Ankylosaurus had such impressive armor that it could live alongside T. rex, the hardest biting land animal of all time, and not need to run away,

We go into way more detail about what makes Ankylosaurus so cool in one of our recent podcast episodes. Listen here:

3 Incredible Dinosaur Fossils

There are some incredible dinosaur fossils that have been found. Here are 3 of our top ones.

Borealopelta, one of the most incredible dinosaur fossils

Borealopelta

An amazingly preserved ankylosaur (armored dinosaur), that looks mummified. It’s on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum and visitors can see its eyelids, keratin on scutes, fossilized skin, and gut contents. Scientists also learned that this dinosaur was reddish-brown and had a countershading pattern for camouflage.

Hear more about Borealopelta in our interview with Caleb Brown, who worked on the fossil, in episode 149. And learn more about the Borealopelta fossil in episode 142.

Leonardo mummy
Courtesy of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, via Wikimedia Commons

Leonardo the Brachylophosaurus

Leonardo is a famous dinosaur “mummy,” and one of the most incredible dinosaur fossils. This hadrosaur dinosaur is 90% covered in soft tissue, and the fingers on its hands were in a soft tissue so it looked like a mitten. And Leonardo’s gut contents were preserved: ferns, conifers, magnolias, and pollen from more than 40 different plants.

Learn more about Leonardo and Brachylophosaurus in episode 194 of our podcast.

Mussaurus specimens
Courtesy of Otero, Alejandro; Cuff, Andrew R.; Allen, Vivian; Sumner-Rooney, Lauren; Pol, Diego; Hutchinson, John R., via Wikimedia Commons

Mussaurus

The name Mussaurus means “mouse lizard” but this dinosaur could grow to weigh over 1 ton. So many Mussaurus fossils have been found, (including an embryo inside an egg!) and scientists have learned a lot about Mussaurus since it was first discovered. For example, they had a common nesting ground, where juvenile Mussaurus hung out together and adults foraged for food. And when Mussaurus was a baby, it crawled on all fours but as it grew bigger this dinosaur walked on two legs.

Hear more about Mussaurus herds in episode 362, Mussaurus eggs in episode 292, Mussaurus crawling in episode 237, and Mussaurus in general in episode 220.

5 of the Weirdest Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs came in all shapes and sizes. Some of the weirdest dinosaurs evolved to fill unusual niches.

It makes sense, since dinosaurs lived for hundreds of millions of years. This gave them lots of time to change and adapt.

And that led to some wonderfully strange ones.

Here are five of the weirdest dinosaurs.

1. Carnotaurus

Carnotaurus

Full name: Carnotaurus sastrei

Genus name means: “Meat eating bull”

Estimated size: 26–30 ft (8–9 m) long

Estimated weight: 1.3–2.1 tons

Habitat: Seasonal climate with dry and humid periods

What it ate: Meat

Where it’s been found: Argentina (La Colonia Formation)

Carnotaurus was one of the weirdest dinosaurs, with its thick horns above the eyes and very short arms. In fact, its forearms were only about 1/4 the size of its upper arms. The horns may have been used for fighting, display, or killing prey.

Learn more about Carnotaurus in episode 85 of our podcast.

2. Deinocheirus

Deinocheirus arms, one of the weirdest dinosaurs

Full name: Deinocheirus mirificus

Genus name means: “Horrible hand”

Estimated size: 36 ft (11 m) long

Estimated weight: 6.4 tons

Habitat: Humid climate with rivers (and some droughts)

What it ate: Plants

Where it’s been found: Mongolia (Nemegt Formation)

For 50 years, all we knew about Deinocheirus is that it had large, 8 ft (2.4 m) long arms with 8 in (20 cm) long claws (and we thought it was a terrifying, carnivorous dinosaur). Then, paleontologists discovered just how weird this herbivorous dinosaur was, with hoof-like claws on its feet, hadrosaur-like duckbill, camel-like hump, and bulky tyrannosaur-like legs.

Learn more about Deinocheirus in episode 10 of our podcast.

3. Therizinosaurus

Therizinosaurus claw, another one of the weirdest dinosaurs

Full name: Therizinosaurus cheloniformis

Genus name means: “Scythe lizard”

Estimated size: 30–33 ft (9–10 m) long

Estimated weight: Over 3 tons

Habitat: Temperate climate with rivers and canopy-like forests

What it ate: Plants

Where it’s been found: Mongolia (Nemegt Formation)

Therizinosaurus was a theropod (a clade that includes T. rex), that probably had long arms and definitely had long claws. But, this dinosaur ate plants, and even had a wide body to better digest them.

Learn more about Therizinosaurus in episode 48 of our podcast.

4. Linhenykus

Linhenykus
Image by Nobu Tamura, via Wikimedia Commons

Full name: Linhenykus monodactylus

Genus name means: “Linhe claw”

Estimated weight: 1 lb (450 g)

Habitat: Semi-arid climate

What it ate: Insects(?)

Where it’s been found: China (Wulansuhai Formation)

Linhenykus had short arms with only one finger on each hand. It’s possible Linhenykus used its claws for digging around ant and termite nests.

Learn more about Linhenykus in episode 351 of our podcast.

5. Bajadasaurus

Bajadasaurus
Image by Slate Weasel, via Wikimedia Commons

Full name: Bajadasaurus pronuspinax

Genus name means: “Downhill lizard”

Estimated size: 33–43 ft (10–13 m) long

Habitat: An area with river channels

What it ate: Plants

Where it’s been found: Argentina (Bajada Colorada Formation)

Bajadasaurus was a sauropod with long spines on its back that curved forward. The spines curve so far forward that the spines on its 5th vertebrae would have almost reached as far forward as the head.

Learn more about Bajadasaurus in episode 220 of our podcast.

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