Washington DC – Smithsonian (Exhibit 2)

The 2nd Stegosaurus display in Washington DC’s Smithsonian museum is less visually attractive than its sister specimen down the hall, but considerably more scientifically meaningful.  Affectionately known as the “Roadkill Stegosaurus, this skeleton belongs to one animal (as opposed to other displays, which are often composites) and is displayed exactly as it was found in the earth.

It was also the first skeleton discovered that gave scientists an idea of what Stegosaurus actually looked like.  Before that, they only had bone fragments to work with.  This is the “type” specimen for the species, which means that any time a paleontologist finds new bones they think might be a Stegosaur, this is the fossil they compare it against to make sure.  It was amazing to see such a cool and unique thing in person.  These exact bones single-handedly changed the way we all think of dinosaurs.