Museum Name: Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center
Established: May 2004
Schedule: Open 7 days a week, M-Sa. 9AM-6PM, Su. 10AM-5PM, Closed New Years Day, Easter, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, Inclement weather, please call
Address: 201 S. Fairview St., Woodland Park, CO 80863
Phone Number: 719-686-1820
Fax Number: 719-686-1399
Email: info@rmdrc.com
Director: JJ Triebold
Website: www.rmdrc.com
Ages: All Ages
Costs: See Website

More than 30 skeletons and life restorations of dinosaurs and other reptiles are on display including one of the largest Cretaceous sea monster collections in North America. Interactive exhibits, real fossils, a viewable fossil laboratory, a children’s educational area and theater presentations also are offered.

From Denver, Colorado: (Heading South on I-25) - Take Colorado Springs exit #141 "24 West Cimarron Street". At exit ramp light, make a left onto W. Cimarron St. (also known as Hiway 24 W.)Continue on Hiway 24 to Woodland Park (18 miles). RMDRC will be on the SE corner of Fairview Street and Hiway 24. Look for the palm trees and Dinosaurs out front.

From Pueblo, Colorado: (Heading North on I-25) - Take Colorado Springs exit #141 "24 West Cimarron Street". At exit ramp light, make a left onto W. Cimarron St. (also known as Hiway 24 W.) Continue on Hiway 24 to Woodland Park (18 miles). RMDRC will be on the SE corner of Fairview Street and Hiway 24. Look for the palm trees and Dinosaur out front.

Albertosaurus libratus
Pronounced (AL-BER-TO-SORE-US LI-BRA-TUS) Albertosaurus was a 20 to 25 foot long carnivorous dinosaur from the late Cretaceous of North America. Its skull was full of dagger-like teeth designed to catch and kill medium and large prey like hadrosaurs, small ceratopsians and other ornithischians.
Albertosaurus, as you can probably surmise, is a very close relative of the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex. It lived in the same area and filled a similar role as Tyrannosaurus, but lived some 10 million years earlier in time.

Bambiraptor feinbergi
Pronounced (BAM-BEE-RAPTOR FINE-BERG-EYE) Bambiraptor is a juvenile predator, closely related to Velociraptor. The name "Bambi" comes from the Italian word "bambino", or "baby". Originally discovered in 1995 by a 14 year old amateur fossil hunter, the skeleton turned out to be one of the most complete raptors ever discovered in North America, with approximately 95% of the bones present. Bambiraptor has the largest brain compared to its body size of any dinosaur, indicating that it was one of the more intelligent animals at that time. Studies rank it's intelligence as on par with the average modern Opossum.

Oviraptor - North American
Pronounced (O-VI-RAPTOR)
One of the last dinosaurs to grace the planet was this extremely strange looking creature. This new genus of North American Oviraptor (family Caenagnathidae), has yet to be named or described. Compared to other oviraptors, which are predominantly found in Asia, this new genus was much, much larger. Like its oviraptor cousins, it had an unusual crest on its head that might have been multi-colored in life.

Unlike other carnivorous dinosaurs, it had a toothless beak that it could use to catch and kill small prey or eat carrion. It also had extremely long claws that it may have used for defense to fend off would-be aggressors or during hunting or scavenging activities. In many respects, it resembles the modern day cassowary, a crested, flightless bird of Northern Australia and New Guinea.

Pachycephalosaur wyomingensis
Pronounced (PAK-E-SEF-A-LO-SORE-US WHY-O-MING-EN-SIS) The first thing that you will notice about this animal is its thickened dome shaped skull and hornlets. It basically had a football helmet for a skull, and some paleontologists think that it would butt heads with other Pachycephalosaurs in competition over mates and territory.

For almost 100 years only a few skull specimens were the only things discovered from this animal. The specimen you see standing represents the first specimen ever found with both a skull and a partial skeleton. The first Pachycephalosaur skull was found in eastern Montana in 1943. Since that time, only 3 other semi-complete skulls have been discovered.

Tylosaurus proriger
Pronounced (TIE-LOW-SOAR-US PRO-RIG-ER)
This specimen, the largest mosasaur ever found in North America, was collected in 1911. It was placed in the collections of a major university in the US, where it remained in storage until 1997, when it was restored by Triebold Paleontology, Inc.
As the dominant predator of the seas, the Tylosaurus diet consisted of other sea creatures - basically, anything it chose to eat!

Both the Tylosaur and Platecarpus bones have been found with evidence of necrosis, resulting from a long stay at extreme depths. No such necrosis has yet been found in Clidastes bones which suggests that they did no deep diving therefore filling a difference niche.

Xiphactinus audax
Pronounced (ZIE-FAK-TIN-US AW-DAX)
This 17 foot long Xiphactinus is one of the largest specimens ever found, and was nearly 100% complete. One of the most interesting things discovered during the preparation of this animal is that it was scavenged and chewed on by a new genus of shark related to Paracorax, whose teeth were found amongst the tooth marked bones. Most fossil fish are prepared as a wall mount with the bones still in the rock matrix. TPI was the first and only lab to ever attempt to make a three-dimensional skeletal mount from its very fragile bones.

The Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center has its very own Paleontology Laboratory! Visitors can peer through the glass and see our paleo technicians and scientists working on the latest discovery - fresh from the field.

The paleo lab consists of various work areas:

- Preparation: This is where we we take the rocks (or jackets) from the field and open them up using various tool to remove the rock and expose the fossils. This is a very slow process and can continue for several months for a single dinosaur.

- Restoration: Once the fossils are removed from the rock, they can be quite fragile to handle. We use very strong glues and fill in some gaps in the fossils where erosional forces opened up cracks.

- Molding and Cast: We make a 2 part mold using silicone, the inside of which is hollow (the hollow part is the shape of a single bone). Then we pour in liquid plastic, let it harden and taadaaa.....we have a perfect copy of the original fossil. The originals go into storage and are catalogued.

- Assembly: All the parts are slowly put together around a steel structure (for strength), and when completed, very little steel will be shown.

- Finishing Touches: Once assembled, the skeleton is painted to look like the original fossils.

Ok, maybe this sounds easy but the entire process could take 6 months to 3 years to complete a skeleton and have it in the museum exhibit hall. Visitors can view each of the processes as we build skeletons for museums around the world!

Children's Learning Center
Ever wanted to feel dinosaur poop? Or how about building a new species of dinosaur out of magnets? These are just a few examples of hands-on learning that children will experience in the Learning Center. It's all part of your admission to fun! We have many activities to keep young minds busy and there is even a dinosaur dig site to keep them physically active.

Class Trip Programs:
With over 30 specimens and a number of hands on exhibits, your class will be given the latest dinosaur information from the people who find them! To schedule a School Tour, please call 719-686-1820 x104. School Tour must be scheduled at least 1 week in advance.

Guided tour lasts approximately 1 hour and includes

- Explore our fabulous dinosaur exhibits,

- Understand what a Paleontologist does,

- Discover how fossils are formed and preserved,

- Identify what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur,

- Learn where fossils are found,

- See what lived in the oceans 65 million years ago.

- And see fossils prepared in our lab!

- Teachers can download a pre-tour packet that includes dinosaur and museum background information, pre-tour teacher activity guides with student activities for all ages.

- All students and teachers are welcome to shop in the Prehistoric Paradise Gift Store following the tour. The gift store has many items starting at 50 cents and up.

Class Trip Pricing:
Students Over 5yrs Old: $5.00 each

Students Under 5yrs Old: $3.50

Additional Adults: $8.00 each

Chaperones: 1 free adult per 10 students and transportation drivers are free.