Meeting the "local" dinosaurs

Last weekend I visited the Dinosaurs Around the World exhibit at South Coast Botanic Garden with a friend.  The exhibit, featuring thirteen animatronic dinosaurs, opened on November 1st and ends February 1st.  My friend and I took the long loop to see all thirteen as shown in the map below.

All the dinosaurs roared so, even without a map, you could find them when you came near

The dinosaurs weren't organized by the timetable in which they roamed the earth, although those whose fossils were found in the same general region were placed relatively near one another.  The areas they roamed were one of the most interesting aspects of the exhibit in my view.  I knew that the earth's geography changed dramatically over the millions of years during which our planet evolved but I can't recall learning much, if anything, about that transition when I was in school.  The tour provided some information and I did a bit of research for myself.  For reference:

• Pangea was the "ultimate" supercontinent, which formed about 300 million years ago, when two other massive subcontinents, Gondwana in the south and Laurasia in the north, collided.  Pangea broke apart into north and south segments again 180 to 200 million years ago.
• What was Gondwana encompassed South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, India, Madagascar, and Arabia.
• Laurasia encompassed most of North America, Europe, and Asia.
• Both Gondwana and Laurasia subsequently broke up into the smaller continents we know today.  All but a few submerged landmasses and some islands like the Philippines weren't part of Pangea.  Rodinia, an older supercontinent that formed approximately one billion years ago and broke up 750 million years ago, may have included the Philippines.

The first dinosaur we saw was a Hadrosaur, a herbivore that roamed Godwana 66-67 million years ago, traveling from what's now South America further south into Antarctica.  At that time Antarctica was a temperate region with ferns and conifer and ginkgo trees.

It was reported to have had 1400 teeth, which the animals replaced as their teeth wore down when they chewed the foliage that sustained them

Each exhibit came with a sign containing basic information, like when and where the dinosaur roamed the earth.  One little girl was carefully reading all the information to her parents at this stop.

Some exhibits included additional information about the era in question, like this one addressing the changes in Antarctica

It should be noted that relatively few dinosaur fossils have been found "locally" in California.  Google AI informed me that this is largely due to the fact that much of what's now California was submerged during the reign of the dinosaurs and their bones weren't well preserved when deposited in ocean sediment.  However, California does have an official dinosaur, the Augustynolophus.  It's apparently a relative of the Hadrosaur shown above.  It's fossils were discovered in San Diego County.

Next up on the exhibit's tour was the Herrerasaurus, a bipedal carnivore which lived 235-228 million years ago on the Pangea supercontinent.  It's thought to have roamed the area that's now South America.  Its bones were found in Argentina.

This one had very wicked teeth - and a gleam in his eyes

The third dinosaur we encountered was a Protoceratops, a small herbivore that wandered Mongolia (Laurasia) 75-71 million years ago.  There's evidence that the creatures created nests to care for their young.

This little fellow had a crick in his neck (or rather in his animatronics), causing him to jerk his head

Next up was the well-known Triceratops, a larger herbivore that could grow to up to 30 feet long.  They were among the most recent dinosaurs, roaming North America (Laurasia) 68-65.5 million years ago.  Their heads could reportedly grow up to 8 feet long.

The fifth dinosaur is probably the most famous, Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Well-known as carnivores, they fed even on other TRex.  They roamed the same area (North America/Laurasia) during the same period (68-65.5 million years ago) as the Triceratops, which were apparently also on their menu.

Their front legs were very small

But their teeth were impressive!

As indicated here, the first dinosaurs developed when Pangea was intact.  They wandered throughout the supercontinent, making it a kind of melting pot.

Although the sixth dinosaur figure was relatively small, the Iguanodon could grow to 26 feet in length.  This herbivore roamed what became Europe (Laurasia) 126-125 million years ago. 

Number seven was a Neovenator, a carnivore.  It also roamed Europe (Laurasia) 125 million years ago.  The first bones were found on the Isle of Wight in the UK.

Number eight is another dinosaur that was much larger than the figure in the exhibit, an Australovenator.  The 20 foot  carnivore has been called the "cheetah" of its time because of its approach and skill in hunting.  As the name suggests, it hunted in Australia (Gondwana).  It dates back to 95 million years ago.

 

Number nine, named after the discoverer's daughter, is Leaellynasuara.  It was as small as its figure in the exhibit.  It was a bipedal herbivore located in Australia (Gondwana) 118-110 million years ago.  Its tail supposedly accounted for seventy-five percent of its weight.

Number ten, the Minmi, was also a small herbivore that wandered Australia (Gondwana) 119-113 million years ago. It was a quadruped likened to a current-day armadillo.

From one of the smallest dinosaurs, we next visited one of the largest, the Spinosaurus.  It was 55 feet long.  It ate both fish and meat in Africa (Gondwana) 112-97 million years ago.

As parts of Pangea broke up and shifted south, the dinosaurs in that region changed (producing "meaner" creatures according to this sign)

The twelfth dinosaur was a mid-sized Kentrosaurus, a herbivore that wandered Africa (Gondwana) 152 million years ago.  It's said to resemble a modern-day porcupine (but larger).  It could protect itself by swinging its tail at speeds of 30 miles per hour.

The last dinosaur was the Massospondylus, a mid-sized herbivore.  Evidence indicates that the immature hatchlings were quadrupedal, while adults were bipedal.  They roamed South Africa (Gondwana) 200-183 million years ago.

So that was the dinosaur exhibit.  The kids seemed to like it, which may have taken some of the sting out of the fact that the new children's garden remains stalled from all appearances.  Work started in late 2022 with the opening originally scheduled for 2024.  The current signs say "coming soon" but I could see no sign of progress whatsoever.

Maybe 2026?

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party