Much like the Springfield Science Museum, the Everhart is a small and charming museum which contains the private collection of the Everhart family. This Stegosaurus is the only full dinosaur on display, and it’s presentation is enhanced by a cool painting of plants on the wall behind it. One of the latest theories as to why the Stegosaurus went extinct actually deals with plants. Namely that the world’s plant-life evolved to a point where stegosaurs were no longer able to digest them.
Learning that theory reminded me of one of my favorite passages from Jurassic Park, where Dr. Ellie Sattler (played by Laura Dern in the movie) talks about plant-life in relation to the world: “People who imagined that life on earth consisted of animals moving against a green background seriously misunderstood what they were seeing. That green background was busily alive. Plants grew, moved, twisted, and turned, fighting for the sun, and they interacted continuously with animals—discouraging some with bark and thorns; poisoning others; and feeding still others to advance their own reproduction, to spread their pollen and seeds. It was a complex, dynamic process which she never ceased to find fascinating. And which she knew most people simply didn’t understand.”