Santa Ynez Valley

Santa Ynez Valley
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Monday, September 7, 2020

Museum of the Rockies

After Glacier National Park we spent a few days in Bozeman, Montana.  The primary reason for stopping in Bozeman was to visit the Museum of the Rockies, which houses one of the largest collections of dinosaur fossils in the USA.

In front of the museum is a bronze cast of the bones of the Tyrannosaurus nicknamed "Big Mike" which was discovered in Montana by Kathy Wankel in 1988 and excavated by Museum of the Rockies staff during 1989-1990.  This dinosaur is now the centerpiece at the Smithsonian's new paleontology exhibit (and now called "The Nation's T-Rex").




The museum also has a living reptiles hall.
Green Tree Python



Mangrove Snake



Western Diamondback Rattlesnake



Frilled Leaf-tail Gecko
These guys have super grippy toes.



This one was hanging onto the glass front of the case.



Star Tortoise



Veiled Chameleon



Rhinoceros Iguana
This one was so still we were not sure it was real at first, since we saw no movement, even breathing.  Later we saw it had changed its posture very slightly.



Viewable paleontology preparation lab



Allosaurus "Big Al"



Tyrannosaurus rex



Triceratops



Deinonychus foot with "switchblade" claw



Clawed Deinonychus hand



Tyrannosaurus skull growth sequence exhibit



Triceratops skull growth sequence exhibit



Beautiful large Placenticeras ammonite fossil



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