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#dinosaurmuseum — Public Fediverse posts

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  1. The Mesalands Dinosaur Museum and National Laboratory, is a small but very-worth-visiting fossil museum in Tucumcari, New Mexico. One of the things that makes it special is that the local community college has a program for doing large bronze castings, and they've made it specialty to case actually fossil replicas in bronze, from individual bones to whole skeletons. These castings record incredible detail, and more importantly, are often durable enough to be touched by visitors.
    Pictured is one of my favorite objects I've ever encountered on Earth, a huge, life-sized casting of an adult Triceratops. Yes, you are free to touch it, and to do so is to experience a dinosaur in a way few people ever have. When I ran my fingers over its bumps and pores, it came to life in a way I can barely explain. This was something that had been ALIVE. A living, breathing, thing. Yes, I knew that intellectually, but to feel it viscerally, emotionally, is something breathtaking.
    I've been there several times, I still I'm drawn to it and take something away every time. When I visited earlier this fall, I found a couple of seemingly scraped indents near the edge of the frill, and it occurred to me that they could we have been caused by TEETH. Maybe, maybe not, but it was compelling to imagine some encounter with a large predator from which this animal had obviously walked away.
    Not only is this great for everyone, but I especially wish ever sight-impaired person (especially children) could experience in person. If you're traveling through New Mexico along I-40/Route 66, it's a convenient stop, and small enough to see in an hour or two, depending on your interest level (and the enthusiasm of your kids).
    In addition to the many fossils and several dinosaur skeletons, there is an educational learning area for children, an extensive gift shop, and you can watch through windows as scientists work in an large fossil processing and study laboratory.
    #tucumcaridinosaurmuseum #dinosaurs #dinosaurmuseum #tucumcarinm #tumcaridinosaurmuseum #newmexico #route66 #sciencemuseums #mesalandscc