Back from extinction
The Deltadromeus, whose name means river runner, has claimed the top of the wetlands waterfall at the Good Zoo at Oglebay as his prehistoric perch for the summer.
A juvenile TyrannosaurusRex roars at the new exhibit at the Good Zoo at Oglebay. Life-sized, moving and roaring dinosaurs will be on exhibit at the Good Zoo at Oglebay throughout the summer.
A Styracosaurus and her baby can be found foraging in the woods near the Australian Exhibit at the Good Zoo at Oglebay.
Vincent O’Leary, educator at the Good Zoo at Oglebay, stands in front of the mama Styracosaurus. The dinosaur O’Leary is holding arrived with its big brothers and sisters and will go on field trips with zoo educators to area schools.
OGLEBAY, W.Va. – Five life-sized dinosaurs and one offspring have arrived at the Good Zoo at Oglebay, and will greet zoo visitors through Labor Day.
“The dinosaurs are fitted with an electric brain so they move and roar, and can be discovered in the woods near the Australian Exhibit,” said Penny Miller, director of the Good Zoo.
Miller said the entire zoo staff has been working with a paleontologist and are well-versed on the dinosaurs that are on exhibit.
Paleontologists continue to find new dig sites and new dinosaur species, and advanced tools and new discoveries have led to new conclusions about dinosaurs.
“Museums have had to change exhibits numerous times as paleontology forms a more accurate picture of dinosaurs,” Miller said.
The dinosaurs at the Good Zoo this summer include a large Styracosaurus and her baby, a Dilophosaurus, a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Deltadromeus and Parasaurolophus. The Parasaurolophus is nonrobotic so visitors can sit on it and take photographs; all other dinosaurs are robotic and move and roar.
The Styracosaurus, whose name means spiked lizard, was found in North America and Asia during the late Cretaceous period. This species had six large spikes coming from the large frill on the back of the head, two horns on the upper mouth and one horn on the nose. The spikes were arranged differently for each dinosaur.
Styracosaurus had a beak to eat plants, and fossil beds show tracks where multiple dinosaurs walked together and laid eggs together. Functioning in groups allowed them to defend themselves from predators and to be less vulnerable. Miller said the Styracosaurus functioned ecologically like today’s rhinoceros.
The Dilophosaurus, whose name means two-ridged lizard, was 20 feet long and about 6 feet tall. It was a medium-sized, fish-eating dinosaur that scavenged.
Tyrannosaurus Rex, or T-Rex, means tyrant lizard king and is one of today’s most recognizable dinosaur species. Most of the specimens of T-Rex were found in fossil beds in Montana and South Dakota. One of the largest land carnivores, a full-grown T-Rex was 40 feet long and 13 feet high.
“Many thought that the T-Rex was an active hunter, but evidence supports the hypothesis that they were mostly scavengers,” Miller said.
Because T-Rex was one of the most recent dinosaurs to go extinct, its bones were well-preserved and a great deal is known about it.
The Parasaurolophus, whose name means near-crested lizard, was a herbivore that walked on four legs to forage for food and ran on two legs. Parasaurolophus had beak-like mouths for breaking down grasses and ate in groups to avoid predation, functioning ecologically the same as a herd of gazelles today. Specimens were found in North America, from Mexico to Canada.
“The Deltadromeus, whose name means river runner, has claimed the top of the wetlands waterfall as his prehistoric perch for the summer,” Miller said.
Deltadromeus also was a carnivore, walked on two legs and was about 30 feet long. Very few have been found, and only partial skeletons can be studied, so not much is known about this species. For a closeup view of the Deltadromeus, Miller suggested a train ride. But the creature can be seen and heard from the wetlands.
The dinosaurs are from Billings Productions, which provides life-size animatronic dinosaurs for zoos, museums and theme parks. According to its website, www.billingsproductions.com, the company aims to encourage discovery and create awareness of prehistoric life in both young and old by making learning fun and entertaining.
The Good Zoo at Oglebay is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $9 for adults and $5.75 for children 3 to 12 years old. Good Zoo members and children 2 and younger are admitted free. Additional information on the Good Zoo can be found at www.oglebay-resort.com/goodzoo.