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Happy New Year!
2017 has arrived much more quickly than we had anticipated. It seems like December has flown by. We hope that you all made it home safely after the holidays. Our thanks go out to all of you for making 2016 a memorable year.
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Santa visited the museum several times in December. The kids were wide eyed and full of excitement to let him know what they wanted to see under the tree on Christmas morning. RMDRC’s own Visitor Experience Guides, Stephen Woolf and Joe LaFleur, played the role and did a wonderful job.
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I hope your holidays were everything you wished for and that today is a very smiling day for you to start off the New Year with. It is going to be a wonderful year for us at the museum, and hopefully you will come and join us on our special events we have during the course of 2017. We are excited about seeing all our members and supporters (some of who have been with us since we opened), and to making new friends for the future.
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FYI:
Researches from China, Canada, and the University of Bristol have discovered a dinosaur tail complete with its feathers trapped in a piece of amber. The finding reported December 8, 2016 in Current Biology and Science Daily helps to fill in details of the dinosaurs’ feather structure and evolution. The feathers are not the first to be found in amber, but earlier specimens have been difficult to definitively link to their source animal.
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Credit: Ryan McKellar/Royal Saskatchewan Museum
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Ryan McKellar, from the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada, said: “The new material preserves a tail consisting of eight vertebrae from a juvenile; these are surrounded by feathers that are preserved in 3D and with microscopic detail. We can be sure of the source because the vertebrae are not fused into a rod as in modern birds. Instead, the tail is long and flexible, with keels of feathers running down each side. The feathers definitely are those of a dinosaur not a prehistoric bird.”
Lida Xing from the China University of Geosciences in Beijing discovered the specimen at an amber market in Myitkyina, Myanmar in 2015 and recognized its potential scientific importance and suggested that the Dexu Institute of Paleontology buy the specimen. Researchers say the specimen represents the feathered tail of a theropod preserved in mid-Cretaceous amber about 99 million years ago. The feathers suggest the tail had a chestnut brown upper surface and a pale or white underside.
These findings show the value of amber as a supplement to the fossil record. Amber pieces preserve tiny snapshots of ancient ecosystems, but they record microscopic details and three dimensional arrangements that are difficult to study in other settings.
The researchers say they are now eager to see how additional finds from this region will reshape our understanding of plumage and soft tissues in dinosaurs and other vertebrates.
Geri Lebold
Education Director
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Spend some time shopping at Prehistoric Paradise, the largest dinosaur store in the region for hundreds of unique gifts including real fossils, jewelry, games, books, stuffed dinosaurs, t-shirts and much more! A family membership makes a great gift that can be enjoyed for the entire year. If you have someone who’s difficult to buy for, a gift card is the perfect solution. Save yourself time and money by letting our staff gift wrap your purchases free of charge.
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$10 OFF $50 gift shop purchase
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$50 purchase before sales tax. Limited to one coupon per customer. Cannot be combined with other discounts or coupons.
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10off50
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Dinosaur Resource Center
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Saturday February 4 from 1:00-3:00pm, Bricks 4 Kidz will be here with a STEM theme.
Saturday February 18 we will be hosting The Pueblo Zoo from 1:00-2:00pm.
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KID'S FREE DAY
Our 12th annual Colorado Kid’s Free Day was held December 27th this year. This year we had over 700 visitors taking tours, listening to story time and getting hands-on experience with real bones from the Discovery Cart. Flash and Thelma Memorial Hedgehog Rescue were here with their hedgehogs. Visitors learned about these adorable creatures which are the oldest living live bearing mammals. Hedgehogs were here with the dinosaurs and still thriving! The Space Foundation demonstrated “infrared technology”. It is not only one of the newest things happening in science but it is used by animals. Reptiles can “see” in infrared, which allows them to spot prey in the dark or behind foliage.
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Professor Steven Veatch taught a hands on demonstration and peeled back the layers of time. Visitors worked with Ice Age fossils from a Columbian mammoth to tiny Ice Age fossils and helped reconstruct a mammoth with everyday materials.
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The Friends of Dinosaur Ridge had a booth where you could explore several plaster cast dig boxes as well as decorate a T.rex to take home. John Patterson presented dinosaur art lessons and demonstrations. We had families from all over the country taking advantage of this once a year event to bring everyone to the museum. Thanks to all for coming!
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In 2016, the DRC hosted more than 24 special events and lectures by local and nationally known speakers. This year’s events included DRC’s annual Family Fun Day with more than a dozen free outdoor activities especially geared towards the whole family for fun and safety.
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Also, the sixth annual outdoors craft fair where more than 20 vendors displayed their wares on the plaza in front of the DRC. Our annual Critter Rescue Round-up brought many new rescue groups and vendors.
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We are looking forward to new, educational events and speakers at the DRC. Be sure to keep checking our website www.rmdrc.com and the calendar of events for details as they become available. If you have ideas for events that you’d like to see here at the museum, send them to info@rmdrc.com. We’d love to hear from you.
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We kick off 2017 with our first program on Saturday, January 7th, 11:00am-3:00pm. Steve and Susanne Leininger will have a hands-on STEM table with different activities and something for each visitor to take home. Susanne is a geologist and oceanographer and Steve is a computer engineer. Come prepared to ask questions and have a really fun time.
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Our first private class of 2017 is Saturday, January 28th, 9:30am-12:00pm with Steve Veatch’s Basic Paleontology Course. This course aims to provide a practical introduction to paleontology-the study of ancient life forms preserved as fossils. The class will focus on the use of fossils as indicators of ancient environments. Join Steve and explore the lost worlds where dinosaurs once ruled supreme. Everyone gets a certificate of completion, and a resource CD to take home. Class is from 9:30am-12:00pm. Pre-registration is required, maximum of 14 students. Call Deb at 719-686-1820 x104. Class fee is $20.00 plus museum admission of $11.50 per person. Students are required to bring a pen, notebook and clipboard.
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The wonderful thing about snow in Woodland Park is that the highways get cleared right away and make it possible for everyone to get around easily while the snow covers the forest with a beautiful blanket. Woodland Park is truly the City above the Clouds because many times when it is cloudy down in Colorado Springs it is clear and sunny up here. So come on up the hill and elevate your dino knowledge at the Dinosaur Resource Center. We are looking forward to your next visit! Happy New Year 2017!
JJ Triebold
President
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