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What Is the National Dinosaur Museum?

Jodee Redmond
Jodee Redmond

The National Dinosaur Museum is located in Canberra, Australia. It first opened its doors to the public in 1993 and is home to the largest collection of fossilized materials on the continent. Visitors to the museum include Australian residents, tourists and numerous school children. People who are interested in visiting the museum often can buy a membership which gives them complementary admission as well as other benefits.

The museum is located in an area known as Gold Creek Village. It is home to a number of popular tourist attractions along with the National Dinosaur Museum, including the Australian Reptile Center and the Cockington Green Gardens. The Village is located near a major highway and is easily accessible by car. Tourist attractions located here are open daily, with the exception of Christmas Day.

The National Dinosaur Museum has a section where people can touch dinosaur fossils.
The National Dinosaur Museum has a section where people can touch dinosaur fossils.

Visitors to the National Dinosaur Museum can see an extensive collection of exhibits. The displays include a number of reptiles, fish, birds and prehistoric mammals. Visitors can also view fossilized remains of trilobites, nautiloids and ammonites. Ancient plants also form part of the offerings at the National Dinosaur Museum.

Not all of the exhibits at the museum focus on dinosaurs. People who step through the doors of the National Dinosaur Museum will also be able to take in displays depicting early humans. The museum offers exhibits featuring Neanderthals, Austalopithicus Africanus and other ancestors of modern humans. Tools used by these early humans are also on exhibit for visitors to see and appreciate.

The National Dinosaur Museum is located in Canberra, Australia.
The National Dinosaur Museum is located in Canberra, Australia.

The museum offers guided tours to classroom teachers who want to make arrangements for their students to tour the premises, as well as other interested groups. When the class arrives, the students are divided into groups for the guided tour. Each group of students touring the National Dinosaur Museum should include at least one adult. The museum’s exhibits include murals displaying what life would have been like during ancient times, as well as a hands-on area where children of all ages can touch the fossils.

Fans of the National Dinosaur Museum have the option of becoming a member. A person who wants to visit the museum regularly would pay an annual fee which entitles him or her to unlimited visits to the museum. Other benefits of museum membership include discounts on items for sale at the gift shop and birthday parties. Museum members receive complementary copies of magazines produced by the museum as an added benefit.

Discussion Comments

jcraig

@JimmyT - You are right and to be honest it does seem a bit surprising at first when one thinks of the few amount of dinosaurs that can be found in Australia, but it is not when one thinks about how popular dinosaurs are to people, especially children.

To me it seems like that dinosaurs are something that impacts the whole world and interests people of all ages and does not necessarily have to do with what is available in the place they live.

The fact they can go to a place and be able to see these creatures is something that will interest the person even if they do not have the remains of the dinosaurs in the place they live.

If anything it would show to me that they probably do not see fossils very often and that this national dinosaur museum is that place they need to go to in order to satisfy their curiosity about dinosaurs.

I am wondering if there are other places in Australia like this or if this is the main center of Dinosaur research exhibition?

JimmyT

@TreeMan - To be honest you are both on to something as far as there not being very many dinosaurs in Australia is concerned.

If one were to research and look at lists of dinosaurs in Australia they will notice that there are not very many and the reason for this is that during the times of the dinosaurs the world's axis was tilted to the point that Australia was in a much harsher climate and that it was an area where very few types of dinosaurs could survive, due to the cold.

To be honest I am actually surprised that there is such a museum in a place in the world where I can only find a could dozen species of dinosaurs, many of which only one sample of the species has ever been found.

TreeMan

@cardsfan27 - Well to be totally honest you are right in your comment as far as there not being a lot of dinosaurs in Australia, so I would venture to say that there are not as many great finds as there would be in the places you described.

I have always wondered why one does not here a lot about dinosaurs being in Australia as it seems like a hot enough place for cold blooded reptiles, like dinosaurs, to survive and thrive, but looking at lists on the internet there are very few dinosaurs that can call Australia home and there are very few research centers that allow for someone to be able to learn about dinosaurs in this area.

I find this to be one of the few places in Australia like this, in dealing with dinosaurs, and it is a real shame as many people find them interesting and I guess it may just have something to do with not having many dinosaurs on the continent to begin with.

I wonder if this observation is true or if there are just not well known species that have been found in Australia?

cardsfan27

I find it to be very interesting that a national dinosaur museum is located in a place such as Australia, as I have never thought to associate dinosaurs with this particular continent.

I figure that since this place is in Australia and that the continent is not usually associated with such types of finds that most of what is found in regards to the field of paleontology in the continent of Australia is usually brought to this place and put on display for all to see.

I really have to wonder what types of unique finds that do have on display at this particular museum and if there is anything that stands out and can be compared to finds that have been dug up in places like Africa or in the Bad lands in the North west portion of the United States?

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    • The National Dinosaur Museum has a section where people can touch dinosaur fossils.
      By: Jackie DeBusk
      The National Dinosaur Museum has a section where people can touch dinosaur fossils.
    • The National Dinosaur Museum is located in Canberra, Australia.
      By: Tupungato
      The National Dinosaur Museum is located in Canberra, Australia.