Really excited to see this paper, which is basically the long-form explanation of everything we put into the animated mural in the Chicago Archaeopteryx display.

I did not know there were others!

and glad they do! I give Kirk’s papers to every artist working on late Cretaceous scenes

I imagine he was inspired by much stronger stuff

Riverbank diorama scene behind a rail with fighting pachycephalosaurs and Triceratops skull

Close up of colorful pachycephalosaur models

Close up of background mural, featuring green and brown ornithomimid in the forest

Bearded fella sitting on ornithomimid’s back

Afaik DMNS is only museum rad enough to include Cretaceous Cannabis in their Hell Creek diorama.

(There’s also a little gnome riding an ornithomimid, presumably unrelated)

VERY COOL PERSON: It's four-twenty, you know what that means?

ME: Hell yeah! [starts shoving blackbirds into a pie]

Futurama robot: I am not from here. I have my own customs. Look at my crazy passport

...no?

Bar graphs tracking agreement with “I like or love dinosaurs” to age, education, politics, and religion

So everyone focused on the favorite dinosaur rankings, but there was a lot more going on in that yougov poll! For example, dinosaur appreciation correlates with younger adults (peaking with millennials), higher education, liberal politics, and less religious affiliation.

These differences are minuscule and possibly insignificant, but you’re right, there might be a story there.

PDF of all results is here. What else is interesting?

Table breaking down favorite dinosaur choices by demographics

When you break down the favorite dinosaur question by demographics, you can see that it’s the boomers that like Brontosaurus. Also, Triceratops appreciation more than doubles with a college degree. 🎓

Table of percentages of people who love, like, dislike, or hate dinosaurs broken down by demographics. About 1% say they hate dinosaurs.

There is a nonzero number of people who dislike or hate dinosaurs. These people are bad and should be shunned.

Bar graphs tracking agreement with “I like or love dinosaurs” to age, education, politics, and religion

So everyone focused on the favorite dinosaur rankings, but there was a lot more going on in that yougov poll! For example, dinosaur appreciation correlates with younger adults (peaking with millennials), higher education, liberal politics, and less religious affiliation.

This is Achrioptera manga, a giant phasmid or stick insect native to Madagascar.

The specific epithet, "manga" means blue in Malagasy & it's not hard to see why. Only males are blue.

The tiny back wings ("alae") are an example of brachyptery: they're useless for flight, but have other functions.

Was going for a sampler of smaller places!

I had this on my wall for about a week when I was 8. Gave me nightmares. 🥲

If it were set up to be constantly rotating in new content (like, full replacement every 5 years) I could see it working better!

I’ll allow it

Exactly. See also most science centers

Also I have been there exactly once, more than a decade ago. This take is mostly based on defunctland videos

It’s been a week I have another one.

Epcot never made sense. The world’s fair concept doesn’t work when stuff has to be permanent enough to last 20+ years. Educational rides aren’t fun. And they’re not even educational when they’re beholden to corporate sponsors. 🤷‍♂️

I think that one’s just a lady Pteranodon :)

Cast skeleton of Gastonia from front, looking cranky

Mounted Edmontosaurus leaning forward with mouth open. In a crowded display with paintings, fake plants

Cast T. rex skull with sclerotic rings and Nanotyrannus skeleton on wooden crates

Cast skeleton of baby Allosaurus in full run without touching the ground

So does this site work well enough again that I can post some gd dinosaurs #FossilFriday

You kinda gotta separate the moral atrocity dudes from the dudes who were just insufferable pricks. My understanding is that Owen was more the latter (and Osborn was both!)

Ah, clever

Trying to figure out how you got that last pic. I remember struggling to find a spot with a straight-on side view

in my top 3 for sure

AI in Museums and Community Trust: A 2025 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story This visual Data Story is based on findings from the 2025 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers, a national survey of American museum visitors from AAM and Wilkening Consulting. Every year, the survey part…

AAM (the US museum professional org) has results on audience research re: use of AI in museums. The results will not be surprising to anyone here. www.aam-us.org/2026/03/30/a...