Jump to content

fossilsonwheels

Recommended Posts

I am currently spending a bit of time every day looking into dinosaurs that are off the beaten path. One of my goals with our education programs is to introduce kids to more obscure dinosaurs that they will not have heard of. We have a few fossils that accomplish that goal already in our program such as Thescelosaurus and Struthiomimus. Scientists and collectors know these dinosaurs but kids do not. They are that next level of knowledge beyond T-Rex, Trikes, Sauropods, etc.

 

We are adding a Leptoceratops tooth for this reason. it is a weird little dino that the kids will not know but will be really interested in. Ceratosaurs are another that get that reaction too. They are overshadowed by the more well known large Theropods. We do this within the Dromoaeosaur family by busting out our Atrociraptor tooth. It is just different enough to really get their attention. I have been reading up on Alvarezsauridae lately and they are a really interesting group of dinosaurs. I doubt we will obtain any fossils but they may be worth mentioning without fossils which is not a common practice for us. I think the Troodontids fit this bill as I have yet to hear any kids mention them and I will be working on getting a Troodontid tooth here in the next few months. It is on the list for sure.

 

I had a lot of fun getting ideas for non-dinosaurs to include in our programs so I thought it would be really fun and informative to get the opinions of the very sharp minded dinosaur collectors here. Keep in mind that our goal is to give fossil examples with the dinosaurs we discuss so do not get to crazy with species from China or South America lol  Keep suggestions to North America, Africa, and Europe. I am not adverse to tracks and eggs either.

 

What are some obscure or strange dinosaurs that we can look into to expand our programs?

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are the therizinosauridae from Uzbekistan. Would be very different from everything else in your collection.

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the coolest dinosaur group are the Therizinosaurus.  They evolved in rhe early cretaceous from a small theropod looking dinosaur to a huge plant eating dinosaur with +20 in claws.  

Book available on amazon cheap.

 

5cbe720cadd77_51aDnAChL._SX385_BO1204203200_.jpg.b61005650b1fb937cb19dde399e01024.jpg

  • I found this Informative 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Therizinosaur are cool, that is a sure pick.

In Europe you have a lot of obscure dinosaurs like the Rhabdodon or Europasaurus (perfect sized sauropod to ride).

  • I found this Informative 1

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~〇~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Warmest greetings from Kumamoto、 Japan

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, Runner64 said:

There are the therizinosauridae from Uzbekistan. Would be very different from everything else in your collection.

Oh that had not even occurred to me ! I love it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, Troodon said:

I think the coolest dinosaur group are the Therizinosaurus.  They evolved in rhe early cretaceous from a small theropod looking dinosaur to a huge plant eating dinosaur with +20 in claws.  

Book available on amazon cheap.

 

5cbe720cadd77_51aDnAChL._SX385_BO1204203200_.jpg.b61005650b1fb937cb19dde399e01024.jpg

I fell asleep on these guys for sure. I am ordering that book. Great suggestion and with two votes, it will get in lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, David in Japan said:

Therizinosaur are cool, that is a sure pick.

In Europe you have a lot of obscure dinosaurs like the Rhabdodon or Europasaurus (perfect sized sauropod to ride).

I am so unfamiliar with European dinosaurs. I will look into those. Excellent suggestions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, fossilsonwheels said:

I am so unfamiliar with European dinosaurs. I will look into those. Excellent suggestions.

The ones I know the best:

 

Variraptor, Pyroraptor

Ampelosaurus, Atsinganosaurus

Struthiosaurus

Rhabdodon, Matheronodon

Arcovenator, Tarascosaurus

 

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, fossilsonwheels said:

I fell asleep on these guys for sure. I am ordering that book. Great suggestion and with two votes, it will get in lol

Replica +20" claws are sold everywhere at a very reasonable price.  A definite attention getter.

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Pixpaleosky said:

The ones I know the best:

 

Variraptor, Pyroraptor

Ampelosaurus, Atsinganosaurus

Struthiosaurus

Rhabdodon, Matheronodon

Arcovenator, Tarascosaurus

 

I will look into those. Thank you for the suggestions :)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Troodon said:

Replica +20" claws are sold everywhere at a very reasonable price.  A definite attention getter.

I have seen those. I am still on little on the fence about using replicas but this may a good choice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, fossilsonwheels said:

I have seen those. I am still on little on the fence about using replicas but this may a good choice.

Good replicas are a fantastic  tool. I have worked in education for many years and things get damaged by kids accidentally or not. Replica in my book are a must have alongside some real specimens.  :)

  • I found this Informative 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Bobby Rico said:

Good replicas are a fantastic  tool. I have worked in education for many years and things get damaged by kids accidentally or not. Replica in my book are a must have alongside some real specimens.  :)

I am not disputing that they area  excellent tool at all. I am apprehensive only because we have done our programs with real fossils up to this point. We are also limited on what we can buy. I can not yet commit funds for a replica when we still have quite a few real fossils to acquire that are in the same price range as replicas. Having said that, I am sure by next fall we will have a few replica claws as well.  Real claws and big T-rex teeth are not ever going to be on our buy list. Too expensive for us so replicas will have a spot in our programs in the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, Bobby Rico said:

Can I ask what is your age range that your education program is aimed at?

 

Sure. Primarily 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade programs. We have one 8th grade program coming up soon. Next fall we will have 5th, 6th, and 7th grade programs as well. The bulk of our work will be 2nd-5th grades though. We do a geology themed basic fossil program for the 2nd graders. 3rd grade is wildlife adaptations. 4th grade is wildlife adaptations plus note taking for an English standard. 5th grade we will do a water cycle program with a fossil tie. middle school is evolution and classification type science. Teachers can choose sharks or dinosaurs for 2-4 programs. 5th is sharks and whales.

  • I found this Informative 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/22/2019 at 6:39 PM, fossilsonwheels said:

Keep in mind that our goal is to give fossil examples with the dinosaurs we discuss so do not get to crazy with species from China or South America lol  Keep suggestions to North America, Africa, and Europe.

 

 

 

There are some really interesting and bizzare dinosaurs from Argentina that unfortunately fall beyond the scope of your program.  Some of my favorite discoveries from Patagonia, Argentina are:

 

Amargasaurus

Bajadasaurus

and Carnotaurus  (I always found carnotaurus awkwardly cute and unique with a short snout and tiny arms)

 

I doubt you will find fossils from these species for a long, long time.

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, olorotitan said:

 

There are some really interesting and bizzare dinosaurs from Argentina that unfortunately fall beyond the scope of your program.  Some of my favorite discoveries from Patagonia, Argentina are:

 

Amargasaurus

Bajadasaurus

and Carnotaurus  (I always found carnotaurus awkwardly cute and unique with a short snout and tiny arms)

 

I doubt you will find fossils from these species for a long, long time.

Well we do not touch on those specific dinosaurs but we do talk about Ceratosaurs (Abelisaurids) so we do cover a relative of Carnotaurus that has similar features. I do briefly discuss dinosaurs from South America and we discuss some really important fossils from China related to the evolution of flight but we focus on the ones we have fossils for. I understand the ban of fossils from certain places but it does limit us to a degree. We only have an hour in each program so we cover what we can. Next year a lot of our dinosaurs will be 2 hour long programs so we can cover more dinosaurs including those we will not have fossils. Great suggestions though !!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What about baryonyx from my locale - the south of England!

 

First fish-eating theropod & a giant claw to get their attention!

 

 

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Andyl said:

What about baryonyx from my locale - the south of England!

 

First fish-eating theropod & a giant claw to get their attention!

 

 

That is one I have given quite a bit thought to adding. We have had a couple of students say it is their favorite dinosaur and the really knowledgeable students do know it. I have not researched the fossils much though. I suspect they are pretty expensive. Great suggestion

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obtaining fossils of these will be extremely hard and probably completely impossible but you could show pictures of:

Concavenator corcovatus (Theropod with weird backsail)

- Shunosaurus lii (Sauropod with a tail club)

- Dacentrurus armatus (Stegosaurus -like dinosaur with a lot more spikes)

- Stigimoloch spinifer ( Pachycephalosaurid)

- Ouranosaurus nigeriensis (a herbivore with a backsail)

Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus ( a Hadrosaurid with a weird pointy thing on his head)

 

I don't know much about these except they are some very weird looking dinosaurs.

 

 

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, gigantoraptor said:

Obtaining fossils of these will be extremely hard and probably completely impossible but you could show pictures of:

Concavenator corcovatus (Theropod with weird backsail)

- Shunosaurus lii (Sauropod with a tail club)

- Dacentrurus armatus (Stegosaurus -like dinosaur with a lot more spikes)

- Stigimoloch spinifer ( Pachycephalosaurid)

- Ouranosaurus nigeriensis (a herbivore with a backsail)

Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus ( a Hadrosaurid with a weird pointy thing on his head)

 

I don't know much about these except they are some very weird looking dinosaurs.

 

 

We did just pick up a Pachy fossil, not Stigimoloch, but we can talk different types of Pachys now. I am actually really excited to finally have a Pachy. It was at the top of my list to add so yay for us lol Great suggestions. A big part of our programs in the fall will be my sons art and he will do some dinosaurs that we do not have fossils for so these are solid suggestions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...