Dinosaur Hall

PHOTOS - LEFT: A reconstructed Quetzalcoatlus swoops over the Museum's dinosaur hall.
RIGHT: Tyrannosaur rex examines the dinner menu.

The Museum's Dinosaur Hall is a window on a lost world. Almost 40 dinosaurs are on display ahead of you. They range from giant Camarasaurus browsing on Jurassic vegetation ahead of you, to baby hadrosaurs on display are the far end of the hall.

• Albertosaurus ranged over Late Cretaceous Alberta, feeding on the abundant plant-eaters.
• Allosaurus, shown feeding on a contemporary plant-eater, was the top predator of its time in Jurassic North America.
• Ankylosaurs were the tanks of the dinosaur world. Many possessed a heavy, bony club at the end of their tail.
• Camarasaurus, although one of the smallest sauropods, manages to dominate the Dinosaur Hall. With a gigantic body and a tiny head, sauropods must have spent most of their lives eating.
• Camptosaurus, a common bipedal plant-eater, this Camptosaurus plays the role of meal for Allosaurus.
• Chasmosaurus: male horned dinosaurs such as the long frilled Chasmosaurus probably engaged in combat to protect territory or mates.
• Edmontosaurus: mounted in a death pose, this duckbilled dinosaur was a common member of the very latest Cretaceous communities in Alberta.
• Hypacrosaurus: the genus Hypacrosaurus is one of crested hadrosaurs, among the most common Alberta dinosaurs.
• Lambeosaurus is named for an early Canadian dinosaur hunter. Lambe's lizard had a complex crest on the top of its skull.
• Ornitholestes was a small, fleet carnivore. Ornitholestes is shown waiting to scavenge the meal of the much large Allosaur.
• Prosaurolophus is a hadrosaur or duckbilled dinosaur, which were named for the flattened snout that resembles the beak of a duck. These plant-eaters possessed as many as 2,000 teeth in their jaws.
• Stegosaurus: Although provided with defensive spikes and plates, Stegosaurus was an inoffensive plant-eater. The plates may have also served to regulate its body temperature.
• Triceratops was named for the three horns on the skull. It was the largest of the horned dinosaurs. It roamed Alberta at the end of the Age of Dinosaurs.
• Tyrannosaurus rex: King of the tyrant lizard, Tyrannosaurus rex was the largest and latest of the carnivorous dinosaurs.

This document was prepared by Wayne Hortensius, Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the Royal Tyrrell Museum Cooperating Society. All information © 1995 Royal Tyrrell Museum. All Rights Reserved.
Updated: April 8, 1995

Comments, questions, suggestions?