Lehi, UT – Museum of Ancient Life (Exhibit 1)

Even though I prefer to see Stegosaurus skeletons posed alive (I know that sentence doesn’t fully make sense), occasionally museums will pose them dead to show the circle of life in dinosaur times. The Museum of Ancient Life in Lehi, Utah has a really interesting display of this type that shows an adult Stegosaurus who has died in an ancient marshland. There are several Goniopholis, an extinct species related to today’s crocodile, that have come to scavenge on the carcass. It reminded me of a gigantic version of the shoebox dinosaur dioramas I used to make in grade school. It’s extra special because it’s so rare that a museum will have a Goniopholis skeleton, let alone several that can be shown in such a dynamic way.

Its displays like this that make dinosaur times come alive. They transport me to what things must have been like in a world with no humans, societies, electricity, morality or economy. Just wild animals devouring each other to survive. Intense stuff!